(Bloomberg) — Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the government will strive for economic growth of about 8% next year, significantly higher than the parliament’s goal for 2025.
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While the National Assembly set a gross domestic product growth target of 6.5%-7% for next year, Chinh said the government sees 2025 as “the year of acceleration” and will strive for about 8% growth, according to a statement on the government’s website. It will prioritize promoting economic growth while controlling inflation and ensuring the budget deficit and public debt are within reasonable limits, the statement said.
Chinh forecasts 2024 GDP growth at above 7%, more than the government’s official target of 6.5% expansion, with inflation of less than 4%, according to the statement. The government forecasts the value of total imports and exports of goods and services to reach $807.7 billion this year, a record high.
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Next year will create momentum for double-digit growth levels in the 2026-2030 period, according to the statement. The country will also strive to complete big infrastructure projects, including a 3,000 kilometer expressway and “basic” completion of Long Thanh International Airport’s initial phase, it said.
The government earlier said it will “drastically” push for 7% growth in 2024 and vowed to speed up the disbursement of public investment, which is far behind the year’s target. Spending for the first ten months of 2024 stood at just 52.29% of this year’s planned investment, according to a separate government statement on Friday. Chinh previously said that this is due to a combination of factors, including a lack of coordination among government agencies, and officials being afraid to take responsibility for their actions.
(Updates with 2024 imports and exports in the third paragraph. Earlier version corrected to say 3,000 kilometer expressway in the fourth paragraph.)
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