It was a roller coaster year in economic data, with both good and bad surprises popping up regularly in many different series of economic data.
![]() Economic growth at 6.2% was much slower than expected, inflation stayed slightly below the National Assembly’s target and the national debt rose tremendously. ![]() So, with the year 2016 having just come to an end, let’s take a quick look back at some of the headline economic data of the year. ![]() The country now has a record 600,000 local companies legally authorized to conduct operations. ![]() For which the total capitalization is an all-time high. ![]() Foreign reserves are also at an all-time high, having reached a record of US$41 billion by year’s end. ![]() Private-sector credit has been estimated to have grown by 20% for 2016, signalling the potential for another bank bad debt crisis. ![]() The country’s exports fell far short of expectations but managed to eke out a 6.6% rise, on the back of the foreign sector. The bad news is that domestic sector turned in a lacklustre performance. ![]() Such weak domestic economic growth didn’t do much to help the labour market. ![]() Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung says up to 97% of local companies are still small and not strong enough to lead the game in the domestic market. ![]() Pledged investment with the Foreign Investment Agency has been tapering off towards the end of the year and now stands at US$15.18, billion, although this is somewhat a meaningless number. ![]() The real measure of foreign investment is actual disbursements by transnational companies and that stood at a record level of US$15.8 billion as of the end of the year. ![]() The number of foreign travellers (both business and personal) to the country reached 10 million for the first time ever. ![]() Bad economic news was delivered to Vietnam with the public debt in 2016 edging close to 65% of GDP – the ceiling allowed by the National Assembly. |
VOV