HCMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at around 3.8% this year, higher than that of its regional peers such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
According to the IMF’s “World Economic Outlook” report, Asia’s economic growth this year is predicted to stand at about 6.5%, with some countries enjoying good GDP growth rates such as Singapore at 6% in comparison to last year’s negative growth rate of 5.4%, and China at 8% compared to 2.3% recorded in the previous year.
Vietnam is expected to take the lead among the group of ASEAN-5 countries in terms of GDP growth this year, with a growth rate of 3.8% compared to 2.9% last year.
Four other countries – Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia – all recorded negative growth last year, and this year’s growth forecast is also predicted below 3.5%. The IMF forecast that Thailand’s GDP will grow at a mere 1% compared to last year’s negative growth of 6.1%.
According to the IMF, supply chain disruptions and price pressures are restraining the recovery momentum of economies. As a result, the global growth forecast for 2021 was downgraded to 5.9%, representing a slight drop from the previous figure of 6%, while forecast for 2022 was unchanged at 4.9%.
The IMF said the labor force participation in the market remains lower than the pre-pandemic level. Overall, the labor market in emerging and developing countries is more affected than in developed ones.
