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| Rice exports boost Vietnam's growth |
| 27-JUN-2009 Intellasia | The Finance Times |
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| 27 Jun, 2009 - 7:00:00 AM |
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Vietnam will see a 3.9 percent growth in gross domestic product for the first half of this year, helped by a rise in rice exports, Hanoi said yesterday.
Other Asian exporters harder hit by the global downturn tweaked their annual output estimates.
The South Korean finance ministry said it expected the national economy to shrink 1.5 percent this year, improving its April forecast of a 2 percent contraction, thanks to official stimulus measures.
Thai finance officials similarly cited the beneficial impact of stimulus measures, but changed their estimate for this year's contraction to a range of 2.5 to 3.5 percent from the 2 to 3 percent made in March. "The economy is still facing risks associated with the severe contraction of major trading partners' economies and the slow recovery of private spending," said Thailand's fiscal policy office.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, said its exports slid 14.5 percent in May from a year earlier, its smallest year-on-year decline in 2009.
Vietnam's overall exports fell 10 percent to $27.57bn (€19.8bn, UK pound 16.9bn) for the first half of the year from the same period in 2008, the trade ministry said. The world's second largest rice exporter shipped 3.2m tonnes in the period. It exported 4.7m tonnes for all of 2008, said the Vietnam Food Association. The group said orders for 4.76m tonnes had been received in the first half of 2009.
Hanoi also took cheer from a 4.8 percent rise in industrial production in the first half from the same period a year earlier, and moderate inflation of 3.94 percent in June - well down on the 22 percent rate seen last year.
Seoul reiterated its pledge to maintain expansionary policies until a fully fledged recovery was ensured. The government has promised about Won67,000bn ($52bn, €37bn, UK pound 32bn) in stimulus measures and has held interest rates steady at a record low of 2 percent for the past four months after slashing them by 3.25 percentage points.
Domestic spending remains in a slump while exports continue to fall. Consumption is forecast to fall 1.8 percent this year before returning to 3 percent growth next year.
The government expects the country to post a $19bn trade surplus in the first half as imports have fallen much faster than exports. Exports are likely to have fallen 23 percent in the first six months of this year from a year ago, while imports are expected to have fallen 34 percent.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89d9e630-61e9-11de-9e03-00144feabdc0.html
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