The General Statistics Office is working on a plan to assess the value created by the informal economic sector as per the government’s request. 

Fulbright University estimates that Vietnam’s informal economic sector makes up 25-30 percent of total GDP and has 57 percent of total number of workers.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at MPI’s year-end summation conference last week again requested the General Statistics Office (GSO) to re-calculate GDP. 

VietNamNet Bridge - After 30 years of doi moi (renovation), the Vietnamese income per capita has increased to nearly $2,400 but that doesn’t satisfy many economists.

By October 20, implemented foreign direct investment (FDI) had reached $14.2 billion and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) $4.7 billion, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

How much do internal resources contribute to the country’s GDP? Economists have raised the question after GSO announced a record-high GDP growth rate of 7.46 percent in the third quarter of the year.

VietNamNet Bridge - Economists say Vietnam is coming closer to the goal of 6.7 percent GDP growth rate, though the country has not exploited as much coal and oil as planned.

VietNamNet Bridge - To obtain a 6.7 percent GDP growth rate in 2017, Vietnam needs to change its economic structure, experts say. 

Vietnam lacks forecasts about deflation and the scenarios to deal with it if it occurs. International institutions have warned that the country may face deflation as the Consumer Price Index has increased very slowly in recent months.

VietNamNet Bridge - The public debt for 2014 was 64.4 percent of GDP, not 59.9 per cent, as previously reported, according to a newly released report by the Ministry of Planning Investment (MPI). Economists say it is a more accurate figure.

VietNamNet Bridge - Doing business with China is one of the biggest problems Vietnam has to deal with as it integrates more deeply into the global economy, economists have said.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Vietnam Consumer Confidence index slid 4.9 points to 133.7 points in August, 1.8 points lower than a year ago.

The national consumer price index (CPI) in August declined 0.07 per cent against the previous month but increased 0.61 per cent compared with the same month last year.

VietNamNet Bridge - The General Statistics Office (GSO) says it is unreasonable to attribute the $20 billion gap in figures about Vietnam-China trade released by Vietnamese and Chinese agencies to smuggling.

VietNamNet Bridge - Statistics agencies currently do not have the right to access businesses to seek accurate information but have to instead make calculations based on figures provided by businesses.

 VietNamNet Bridge – More than 36,000 businesses have been established in the first five months of this year, increasing 15.5% in number and 26.3% in capital compared to the same period last year.

The predicted high trade deficit in the first four months of the year reportedly put pressure on the exchange rate and led to the State Bank’s decision to devalue the VND by one percent on May 7. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The independence and objectivity of statistical data released by ministries and local authorities is dubious, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh has said. 

 Over 67,823 enterprises have shut or suspended operations this year but the General Statistics Office (GSO) said the situation is not too worrying.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said it will work with the General Statistics Office and the International Labor Organization to find a more suitable method to measure the unemployment rate in Vietnam.