Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s economic growth this yearcan reach up to 6.9% in the best-case scenario, the Cen⭕tral Institute forEconomic Management (CIEM) announced during a Hanoi workshop organised on July15 to launch a report on Vietnam’s economy in the first half of 2022.

It is close to the government’s projected GDP growth of 7%for 2022. In the best-case scenario, CIEM economists forecast thecountry’s inflation will average 3.7%, exports grow 16.3% and trade surplusstands around 2.7 billion USD, the report said. The base scenario anticipates the economy to expand6.7% and inflation to hit the expected level of 4%. Additionally, exports willbe likely to rise 15.8% and trade surplus to total 1.2 billion USD. The CIEM also outlined several factors affecting Vietnam’seconomic outlook in the second half of the year, which include the ability tostem the spread of new COVID-19 variants and other diseases, the fulfillment oftasks of the national programme on socio-economic recovery and development, andmacro-economic stability. Other factors, such as the ability to diversify export markets, capitalize on opportunities from free trade agreements Vietnam issignatory to, and handle risks associated with trade and technologyconfrontation between the world’s superpowers, are also critical to the country’sgrowth prospect, according to the CIEM. Nguyen Anh Duong, a senior official from CIEM, sad the mostimportant thing is to keep inflation under control. CIEM Director Tran Thi Hong Minh said CIEM recommends thegovernment to accelerate reforms while boosting post-pandemic economy recovery,in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and provide more room for enterprises todevelop./.