Employees process tra fish for export at Vinh Hoan Corporation in Dong Thap Province. IMF has forecast Vietnam’s GDP growth at 6.5% this year - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – Vietnam is expected to make a robust recovery in 2021 with its economic growth projected to strengthen to 6.5%, higher than the world’s average of 6%, said the International Monetary Fund in the World Economic Outlook report released on April 7.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will expand 7.2% in 2022.

The results will be possible thanks to the country’s solid foundation and the Government’s drastic solutions on economic and healthcare development. IMF recommended that Vietnam maintain its macroeconomic policies this year to ensure its sustainable and comprehensive recovery.

According to IMF, Vietnam’s unemployment rate will fall from 3.3% in 2020 to 2.7% this year and to 2.4% in the following year.

These are positive signals of Vietnam’s economy after it recorded a GDP growth rate of 2.9% last year, which was much higher than many other economies.

The report showed that multispeed recoveries are underway in all regions and across income groups, linked to stark differences in the pace of vaccine rollouts, the extent of economic policy support and structural factors such as reliance on tourism.

IMF advised countries to tailor their policy responses to the stages of the pandemic, strength of recovery and structural characteristics of the economy. Once the vaccination becomes widespread and spare capacity in healthcare systems is generally restored to pre-Covid-19 levels, restrictions can be lifted.

While the pandemic continues, policies should first focus on escaping the crisis, prioritizing health care spending, providing well-targeted fiscal support and maintaining an accommodative monetary policy while monitoring financial stability risks. Then, as recovery progresses, policymakers will need to limit long-term economic scarring and increasing incentives for an efficient allocation of productive resources.

Besides IMF, United Oversea Bank has forecast Vietnam’s GDP to expand 7.1% in 2021 and HSBC predicted the country’s economic growth at 6.6%.