Investors woo homebuyers

Not content with promotional programs, discounts and flexible payments, some property investors in the country have gone so far as to give profit pledges to customers to improve home sales during the gloomy market.

Van Phat Hung Joint Stock Co. is trying to lure potential investors by promising a 15% profit on the total value of condos of La Casa complex in HCMC’s District 7.

Situated at the corner of Hoang Quoc Viet and Dao Tri streets, the project comprises seven blocks with 35 stories each, offering over 1,900 flats besides restaurants, hotels and shopping centers.

According to the investor, the commitment will be applied if buyers follow payment progress as required in the contract and pay 60% of the value of the condo. The enterprise will refund investment capital and profits for buyers as pledged but not apply the policy to those receiving the condo or transferring it.

Prices of La Casa condos average out at VND21 million per square meter and buyers will have to pay 15 installments within 40 months after signing contracts. Investors expect to hand over the project to customers from September 2013.

Earlier, Novaland launched a program to give buying rights for customers of Sunrise City project in District 7. Accordingly, homebuyers will place a deposit equivalent to 20% of the value of the flat on contract signing, 60% more when receiving it and try to live there within two years. After that, they will either settle the final 20% if they want to own the flat or return it and take their money back.

Meanwhile, some investors also pledge to re-lease condos or villas to convince customers to buy their products.

Him Lam Land Co. has launched the sale of serviced apartments of Him Lam Riverside project in District 7 and committed a monthly income from US$1,000-1,500 in two years for customers through a leasing program.

Toan Thinh Phat Investment Architecture Construction Corp. will also continue the leasing program to the second sale of The Pegasus Residence project in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province. The investor is seeking tenants for the villa village such as expats working in the city.

For Saigon Pearl luxury apartment project in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District, the investor has offered a flexible payment policy allowing customers to move into a flat after paying just 50% of its value. The homebuyers will pay the rest of the value within 15 months or ask the investor to help them put the flat up for lease.

Industry insiders said the tough market has forced most enterprises to increase their competitiveness. However, as demand is still low, investors have to improve services and keep offering deals to lure customers.
 
Hi-tech dairy farm to start operation in December

The experimental hi-tech dairy farm whose development is partially covered by Israel’s financial and technical assistance will start operation this December, Israeli ambassador Amnon Efrat said when he met HCMC vice chairman Le Minh Tri on Wednesday.

Efrat said he was satisfied with the progress as 10 of 13 bidding packages of the project had been completed. Located in Pham Van Hai Ward in Binh Chanh District, the 9.8-hectare farm is developed at a total cost of US$6.3 million in which the Israel’s ODA loan is more than US$1 million.

According to the ambassador, Israeli advanced technology will help increase the yearly output to 7,000-8,000 liters per milk cow. “We hope this dairy farm will be not only an experimental hi-tech facility but also a good training center,” said Efrat.

According to the HCMC Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the hi-tech dairy farm will choose firstly 100 milk cows from farming households, then completing the project with 80 more ones.

“Because the total cost of imported Israeli cows is too high, the two sides had agreed to use local cows that have been chosen from best varieties,” explained Nguyen Phuoc Trung, deputy director of the city’s agriculture department.
 
Exporters have yet to tap African, M.East markets

Africa and the Middle East are considered highly-potential goods buyers, but Vietnamese enterprises for the most part have not been able to penetrate such markets, according to a conference held in HCMC on Tuesday.

Ngo Kieu Phat, a trade manager at Tan Quang Minh Manufacture & Trading Co., Ltd., said that his company had tried to ship goods to Africa but had yet to find out reliable partners. Therefore, the company is shipping its products – including beverages, fruit juices and other food products – to the market via a third country.

“We have to sell products to Western Africa via two intermediaries from France and Germany,” Phat told the conference organized by the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade to boost exports to Western Africa and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Binh Minh Frozen Seafood Co., Ltd and Tan Hoa Co., Ltd are exporting products to the Middle East via an intermediary. However, the goods volume for each order is quite limited, at a few containers or just a few hundreds of garment products.

Such scant trade volumes generate trivial profits due to high transport fees, they said at the meeting.

To cope with the situation, some enterprises are striving to search for information and lure more customers from the two markets to boost export. High risks of relating to payment and frauds, however, discouraged them.

Statistics show that Vietnam’s revenues from major export items to such markets remain modest. Vietnam did not appear in the list of the 18 biggest textile and garment exporters to Egypt last year, nor was it listed as one of the 15 largest food exporters to this market.

Ford Vietnam denies selling rusty parts

US carmaker Ford Vietnam yesterday responded to an allegation in a Vietnamese language newspaper by saying it scrupulously followed all procedures to ensure quality and safety of its cars and parts.

Tien Phong had reported earlier that in 2008 Ford had stripped nearly 50 complete car kits and sold rusted parts to its dealers around the country.

A company spokesperson said Ford had conducted comprehensive tests on the parts and only those that passed were sold to the dealers.

Tien Phong said in a follow-up story yesterday that it contacted some Ford Vietnam dealers in Hanoi to find out who had bought the “rusty parts” and whether they told their customers about the parts’ origins, but the dealers refused to answer.
 
Vietnam unlikely to achieve FDI target

Vietnam’s foreign direct investment in the first three quarters was only US$9.9 billion, raising doubts if the country would reach its full-year target of $20 billion.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency said the figure was down 28 percent year-on-year.

New projects accounted for $8.23 billion, down 31 percent, while investors added $1.66 billion to existing projects.

Processing and manufacturing accounted for $4.91 billion, or 49.6 percent of investment.

Electricity production and distribution attracted $2.52 billion and construction, $689.3 million.

Viet Nam News said the northern province of Hai Duong was the top destination for foreign investors, attracting $2.48 billion, or 30 percent of the total FDI.

It was followed by Ho Chi Minh City with $1.68 billion, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with $548 million, and Hanoi with $451 million.

FDI disbursement in the year to date was $8.2 billion, up 2 percent, and the department said the year’s target of $11.5 billion was achievable.

Of 47 countries and territories that have invested this year, Hong Kong topped the list with $2.9 billion, or 29.3 percent of total FDI, followed by Singapore and Japan.

Expanding e-customs in 2011

A talk was held in Buon Ma Thuot city in Dak Lak province on September 26 to discuss the expansion of e-customs applications.  

The event was co-organised by General Department of Vietnam Customs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

At the seminar, representatives from Vietnam Customs and the VCCI introduced an overview of e-customs and information technology (IT) to support businesses as well as the benefits that businesses can enjoy if they utilize e-customs applications.

The seminar also answered questions about e-customs and introduced businesses to the advantages of e-customs and related incentives for businesses.

Do Van Hung, head of the Export-Import Department from the MTV Import-Export Co., Ltd, said that during the process of national development and international integration, it is important to invest in training human resources and updating technological equipment in order to take advantage of e-customs applications, which will facilitate import-export business operations.

According to Vietnam Customs, e-customs applications have been implemented in 13 customs departments and 80 branches nationwide and handling customs procedures for nearly 43,000 businesses.

HCM City’s GDP up 10 percent in nine months

Ho Chi Minh City continued to maintain its socio-economic growth despite high inflation and challenges in the first nine months of the year.
 
The citty’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached more than VND358,000 billion, a rise of 10 percent, with the service sector up 10.5 percent, industrial and construction up 9.6 percent, and agriculture up 5.8 percent.

Meanwhile, total retail sales of goods and services reached VND331,887 billion, up 23.8 percent. Total exports of goods was US$20.3 billion, up 19.3 percent, while total revenues from tourism stood at VND41,241 billion, up 28.9 percent.  State budget collections were estimated at over VND110,000 billion, up 15.9 percent, while the revenues from the foreign-invested sector hit US$2.13 billion, an increase of 36.68 percent against the same period last year.

The city’s leaders asked relevant agencies to regularly monitor prices and the supply and demand of goods, and to inspect essential foods and consumer goods. Thanks to the effective market stabilization programme, the prices of goods in the city have increased only slightly, which has contributed to curbing inflation.

The city has implemented Resolution 11/NQ-CP by cutting over VND441 billionworth of investment capital of 92 unnecessary projects. It has also tried to practice thrift and avoid wastefulness by not accumulating about VND212.358 billion worth of non-essential assets.

HCM City also paid special attention to promoting trade to help businesses seek opportunities for cooperation, boosting investment and trade, and sharing information on policies. Investment capital flowing into the country and export turnovers have increased remarkably over last year, contributing to maintaining production and business activities, generating jobs, ensuring State budget collections and stabilizing the macro-economy.

Government targets six percent growth

The Government will consistently work for the targets to continue curbing inflation, stabilizing the macro-economy, ensuring social security and maintaining a suitable economic growth rate at 6 percent.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made this announcement at the closing session of the regular Government meeting on Sept. 25 and 26 in Hanoi to discuss socio-economic development in September and in the first nine months of this year.

PM Dung said that during more than six months of implementing the Party Central Committee Political Bureau’s Conclusion No. 2 and Government Resolution 11, the country’s socio-economy saw initial achievements in inflation control and stabilization of the macro-economy.

He asked the State Bank of Vietnam to focus on controlling bad debts, adopt measures to lower interest rates and closely monitor foreign rates, while continuing a tight monetary policy and providing capital for agricultural production and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The PM also asked ministries, sectors and localities to continue examining and raising the efficiency of public investment, to ensure capital for projects close to completion, especially electricity projects, and to ease difficulties for enterprises with priority to be given to agricultural production and natural disaster control.

On the operation of State-owned enterprises over the past five years and plans for the next period, the PM asked the Finance Ministry to build a project on renovating State-owned enterprises, focusing on restructuring economic groups and corporations.

He asked ministries and sectors to strictly review management practices and to effectively incorporate socio-economic development goals in plans for 2012.

At the two-day meeting, cabinet members discussed the reasons for high inflation in Vietnam and proposed solutions for the situation.

They agreed that thanks to the implementation of synchronous and drastic measures, the country has reaped encouraging results in stabilizing the socio-economic situation and curbing inflation, with the consumer price index (CPI) in September seeing the lowest increase since the beginning of this year.

During the reviewed period, the nation posted a GDP growth rate of 5.76 percent, while raking in more than 70 billion USD from exports, up 35.4 percent year on year.

As many as 675 foreign-invested projects were licensed, with a combined registered capital of over 8.23 billion VND.

Beside these achievements, cabinet members realized that the trade deficit in recent months was still high (increase of 26.9 percent over the same period last year), while enterprises met difficulties to obtain capital and input prices also remained high.

In the fourth quarter of the year, they agreed that the Government would continue to tighten monetary policies to ensure capital for essential needs for production, firstly for agriculture, followed by rural development, electricity supply and small and medium enterprises.

Coffee output to hit a record of 1.32 million tonnes

Vietnam’s coffee output is likely to reach 1.32 million tonnes in the 2011-2012 crop, thanks to favourable climate conditions and expanded cultivated areas, according to Bloomberg.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that coffee-growing acreage has increased by 1.8 percent to 548,200 hectares.

Bloomberg forecast that Vietnam’s coffee exports will rise sharply and prices will continue to fall by 23 percent compared to the highest level in March due to more supply than demand.

The price of robusta coffee rose to US$2,672 per tonne on March 18 at the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) – the highest over the past three years. However, it hit a record low of US$1,996 per tonne on July 21 and then stood at US$2,043 per tonne on September 23.

Domestic gold fluctuates, central bank eyes imports

At 5:00 pm, closing gold price in the domestic market exceeded VND44.5-45.6 million a tael for bid and ask after plummeting to below VND43 million a teal 3 hours ago.

The U-turn of gold price took place at 3:00 pm after it dropped by VND2-3 million a tael to VND42-42.8 million a tael for bid and ask at 2:00 pm, the opening of afternoon trading session.

The domestic market has closely tracked the reverse movement of the world trend which recovered to $1,624 per ounce at 5:50 pm local time after losing more than $100 an ounce to less than $ 1,555 an ounce.

But it was still some VND4.6 million a tael pricier than its international counterpart.

The unofficial forex rate today gained VND100 a dollar to over VND21,300 a dollar, though the official rate set by the central bank still remained unchanged at VND20,834 a dollar.

Closing gold price today fell VND400,000-700,000 a teal for bid and ask compared to that on Sunday.

Saigon Jewelry Co, Vietnam’s biggest gold trader with around 90 percent market share, told Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper they had sold 10,000 taels of gold in the morning session.

At 9:30 am local time, the domestic gold price dropped another VND200,000 per tael from the previously updated price. The SJC gold price in Hanoi was traded at VND44.4-44.82 million a tael, while the Sacombank Jewelry Co (SBJ) gold price was traded at 44.41-44.89 million a tael.

The spot gold price on Kitco floor was listed at $1,638 per ounce.

According to the forex rate at Vietnam Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank-VCB), the then world gold price was lower than the local by VND3.8 million per tael.

Gold traders have told Tuoi Tre that they had sold 20 tons of gold, equaling to a sum of $1.5 billion spending on importing the precious metal, within this month.

More imports under consideration

The large price gap between domestic and world gold price may be caused by speculators, so the people should be careful in trading the precious metal, said the State Bank of Vietnam.

Though the domestic price has fallen following the world trend, the widening price gap may signal that there is a price bubble in the domestic market, it said.

SBV is considering licensing more gold imports when necessary.

International market open to Vietnamese support industries

More than 9,700 visitors to three exhibitions on support industries in Vietnam indicates that the international market is open to all support industry businesses in the country.

This is the first time the “Vietnam-Japan Support Industries Exhibition", “Industrial Components & Subcontracting Vietnam 2011”, and the “Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2011” have been organised simultaneously in the same venue, showcasing state-of-the-art technologies and high-quality spare parts to promote the development of support industries in Vietnam.

Chanin Khaochan, Director of the Office of Industrial Development (BUILD) under the Department of Investment of Thailand, said visitors have the chance to access modern technologies displayed by businesses from Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan.

“I hope that exhibitors will cooperate closely with each other to produce high-quality products, and that visitors can utilize new technologies to develop their businesses,” he said.

Vivien Yen, Senior Executive of the International Trade Development under Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation, said Vietnam’s support industries have advantages and opportunities for development.

She said she hopes members of the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation will seek Vietnamese and Japanese partners at the exhibitions.

Giang Van Anh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), said he went to the exhibitions seeking business partners and chances to develop production.

“The exhibitions will promote cooperation between inventors, manufacturers, and customers,” he said.

Plastic bag tax unlikely to help reduce pollution

Vietnam to introduce plastic bag tax to protect evironmentPlastic bags will be taxed next year in the government’s attempt to reduce its use and raise environmental awareness but experts and consumers are afraid this target cannot be achieved.

As from January 1, 2012, a tax rate of up to VND50,000 (US$2.5) will be imposed on every kilogram of plastic bags, with the government aiming to reduce the use of this product at supermarkets and shopping centers nationwide by 40 percent by 2015.

In fact, most Vietnamese consumers are yet to get used to using non-plastic bags and find it a disadvantage if they have to bring the non-plastic bags with them or to buy them from the supermarket.

In Ho Chi Minh City, 19.4 percent of the supermarkets and traditional markets said they would not willingly join the program to reduce the use of plastic bags unless it was forced by the government.

Supermarkets bear the grunt

Do Thi Thuy Hang, deputy director of quality management at Saigon Co.op, said all of the supermarkets were currently delivering plastic bags to consumers for free.

“If a supermarket charges its customers on the plastic bags or forces them to buy [the bags], consumers will all go to another supermarket where plastic bags are delivered for free,” she said.

“Hence, we have to accept to pay the taxes to keep customers.”

She said the plastic bag taxation would thus fail to raise environmental awareness among consumers and the number of plastic bags would not be reduced either, adding that the government should ban all supermarkets from delivering plastic bags.

“This will help us actually achieve the environmental protection target and prevent unhealthy competition among the supermarkets.”

Her idea was shared by many supermarkets, which said none of them would voluntarily stop delivering plastic bags for free unless there was a regulation requiring them to do so.

Le Van Khoa, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s Waste Recycling Fund, also said the government should encourage consumers to use alternative bags.

“It will be difficult to persuade consumers to reduce the use of plastic bags if the government only focuses on taxing the plastic bags without letting the consumers know what the tax will be used for,” he said.

However, Nguyen Trung Viet, head of the solid waste management of HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the initial difficulties when the tax law takes were inevitable.

“We still have to impose the tax on plastic bag first and make further amendment later,” he suggested.

Hanoi’s exports hit US$7.16 bln in nine months

Hanoi earned almost US$7.16 billion from exports in the first nine months of this year, up 26.2 percent over the same period of last year, said the municipal Statistics Office.

The growth was attributed to the promotion of exporting high value-added products, especially coffee, which rose by 24.2 percent, petroleum products (96.7 percent), handicraft (21 percent) along with wooden furniture, construction materials and handbags.  

Also according to the municipal Statistics Office, during this period, the city spent nearly US$18.4 billion on imports, a year-on-year rise of 18.7 percent, bringing the city’s trade deficit to over US$11.2 billion.

Economic experts said that China is Hanoi’s largest exporter and importer, followed by the United States and Japan.

The Office also forecast that the city’s export turnover would rise by 27.1 percent this year while import would increase by 14.5 percent year-on-year.

Exports in September decrease sharply

Vietnam is expected to gain nearly US8.3 billion from export revenue in September, a decrease of 11 percent compared to August, according the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Exports are estimated to fall by US$300 million to US$9.3 billion.

Over the past nine months, the country’s trade deficit has hit nearly US$7 billion, equal to 9.7 percent of the total export turnover in the period.

The main reason for the decrease in exports was the sudden drop in the value and quantity of crude oil, precious metals and rice.

Machinery and equipment led the list of imports, reaching nearly US$1.4 billion, followed by oil at US$950 million.

Automobile imports witnessed a fall to US$25 million, nearly a 9 percent decrease compared to August.

Vietnam 2012 oil output to rise 6.7 pct y/y: paper

Vietnam is expected to raise its crude oil output by 6.7 percent next year to 16 million tonnes, drawing more from fields both offshore and overseas, countering a fall in bigger domestic fields, a state-run newspaper reported on Monday.

"A crude oil output decline in major oilfields is in fact taking place, but to offset the fall there are smaller fields," Phung Dinh Thuc, Chairman of state oil and gas group Petrovietnam, was quoted by the official Dau Tu newspaper as saying.

He said the increase would also come from overseas production, including Russia, so that Vietnam's 2012 output would get an extra 1 million tonnes of crude oil, from 15 million tonnes expected this year.

The output this year, equivalent to 301,000 barrels per day (bpd), will be on par with Vietnam's annual target, while natural gas production could rise beyond the annual projection of 8 billion cubic meters, Thuc told the Planning and Investment Ministry-run newspaper in an interview.

Production in Russia, in which Petrovietnam has a 49 percent stake, is expected to rise to 2.2 million tonnes next year from 1.5 million tonnes in 2011, he said.

Small oilfields coming on stream at home included Te Giac Trang, an expanded Dai Hung and Chim Sao, Thuc said.

Vietnam has offered Chim Sao crude, the first grade to be priced on the dated Brent marker at the start of production, for loading in October, as it reverses a slide in exports with new and expanded production that could make it Southeast Asia's second-largest exporter by 2012.

Vietnam produced an estimated 1.26 million tonnes, or 307,900 bpd, of crude in September, up 1.3 percent from the same month in 2010, the government said on Saturday.

Asked about Vietnam's refinery development, Thuc said talks were expected to be concluded in October for the construction of the $7.5 billion, 200,000 bpd Nghi Son refinery, Vietnam's second facility.

In January an official with French oil services firm Technip said the firm would build the plant, echoing reports in state media that Vietnam had selected Technip, JGC Corp and Spain's oil engineer Tecnicas Reunidas as the builders.

"The third refinery in Long Son has received interest from foreign firms such as Saudi Aramco and Total, and detailed work will come after the signing of Nghi Son's engineering, procurement and construction contract," Thuc said.

GDP in first nine months surges by 5.76 pct

Vietnam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first nine months of the year rose by 5.76 percent, announced the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The industrial and construction sectors achieved the highest growth of 6.62 percent against the same period last year, followed by the services (6.24 percent) and agriculture, forestry and aquaculture (2.39 percent).

Some experts argue that this is no easy task in the face of complicated economic developments in the world, especially when there are no signs of improvement in European public debt.

Another reason is that the prices of some basic services and commodities will more often than not keep increasing on account of growing consumer demand before the Lunar New Year festival.

To realize the target of 6 percent set for the whole year, GDP should grow at a rate of 6.5 percent in the next few months.

Denmark helps Vietnamese business lift competitiveness

The Global Competitiveness Facility under the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) on September 23 launched a programme to assist Vietnamese enterprises in the 2011-2013 period.
 
Under the programme, GCF will provide VND216 billion (US$10.3 million) as non-refundable aid to between 50-60 private and non-State economic organisations in Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Dac Lac, Lam Dong, An Giang and Can Tho provinces.

Enterprises involving in agriculture, farm produce processing, fisheries, aquaculture, handicrafts and tourism will be given priority. Top priority will be given to female entrepreneur producers.

GCF’s programme aims to help develop trade services, which bring active and long-term benefits to the development of the value chain towards exports. It also helps reduce financial risk for private and non-State organisations, which are providing new business services and new technology or are seeking new export markets and applying new business models.

In the 2006-2010 period, GCF granted VND135 billion to 52 Vietnamese enterprises in Ha Tay, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces, generating 6,396 jobs for local people.

Vietnam likely among next tiger economies

Vietnam stands a chance to be among world’s next tiger economies – called CIVETS, the government website reported, citing a report on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

WSJ’s “Moving on from BRICS” said countries that make up CIVETS - Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa - will benefit from fast-rising domestic consumption.

A decade after Brazil, Russia, India and China were dubbed the BRICs, any early mover advantage for investing in those economies has long gone, it said.

CIVETS are also all fast-growing, relatively diverse economies, which mean they should be less heavily dependent on external demand, said WSJ.

According to the WSJ, these nations all have large, young populations with an average age of 27.

Among the CIVETS, Vietnam has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for the past 20 years, with the World Bank projecting 6 percent growth this year rising to 7.2 percent in 2013.

The country’s proximity to China has led some analysts to describe it, a 90 million strong population, as a potential new manufacturing hub.

The Southeast Asian nation became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2007.

But foreign investors still face significant obstacles in Vietnam, said WSJ.

Cynics suggest Vietnam is better viewed as a holiday destination than an investment opportunity and it is only included within the CIVETS to make the acronym work.

Even HSBC's fund only has a 1.5 percent target allocation to the country.

It currently holds Vietnam Dairy (Vinamilk), which it sees as well positioned to benefit from Vietnam's 10 percent a year growth in demand for dairy products.

Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2011 and 2012 has been lowered to 5.8 percent and 6.3 percent from the previous forecast released in June at 6.25 percent and 6.8 percent respectively, said International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s annual World Economic Outlook report.

Vietnam's unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 5 percent for 2011-2012.

The country's current account deficit in 2011 would be about 4.7 percent and it would be 3.8 percent in 2012, said the report.

Explaining about the adjustments in its report, IMF said that tight monetary policy and low foreign consumption demand will slow down the growth of emerging economies as well as developing countries in short term.

IMF's views are similar to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s opinion in its recently released report.

Like ADB, IMF not only lowered Vietnam's growth forecast, but also lowered its forecast on growth of emerging economies.

GDP growth of these economies in the second half of 2011 is forecast to around 6.25 percent from 7 percent previously and it would be 6 percent in 2012.

IMF's latest report also lowered its forecast on growth of the global economy to 4 percent in 2011-2012 due to the risks of recession and worsening public debt crisis in Europe.

PV