Photo: VTV
Viet Nam’s GDP is projected to expand by about 8-8.25 percent in 2007-2008, underpinned by continued strong growth in exports, investment, and private consumption, said an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.

The IMF report, released on November 21, said that the near-term outlook remains broadly favourable, and Viet Nam has good prospects for sustained growth and poverty reduction over the medium term, provided that the government can take timely action to rein in demand pressures.

According to the IMF, the improved investment climate generated by WTO accession contributed to an unprecedented boom in the Vietnamese stock market. The stock market's capitalization soared from 500 million USD at the end of 2005 to around 18 billion USD (equivalent 25 percent of GDP) as of end-July 2007.

However, IMF warned that this favorable outlook is subject to risks such as large foreign exchange inflows could prevent an effective tightening of monetary policy.

According to the IMF, large increases in public wages and pensions, and heavy on-lending to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), could compound inflationary pressures, and lead to a rapid accumulation of public debt.

Source: VNA