HCMC – In contrast to bleak financial prospects in the January-March period, reflected in , the financial picture may become bright in the year’s second quarter.

Citing data from the HCMC Statistics Office survey, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said only 18.6% of respondents predicted that business conditions would improve in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 37.4% who held this belief in the second quarter. He was speaking during a press conference held yesterday, April 3.

Local manufacturers were grappling with difficulties caused by fewer new orders, rising input costs and the adaptation of tight monetary policy to combat inflation, and face the prospect of an economic slowdown, leading to a drop in the index of industrial production (IIP) of HCMC in the year’s first quarter.

Although the city’s IIP fell, it showed signs of improvement as the year progressed, Vu said, adding that the southern metropolis saw IIP plunging by 15% year-on-year in January, 2.5% in the first two months of the year, and 0.9% in the first quarter.

He said the city’s industry-trade department would continue supporting local companies in business and production. It is planning to launch a market stabilization program in the second quarter to stimulate consumer demand.

Apart from that, the department would hold a conference to boost the export activities of local businesses. The event, slated for late May, aims to help enterprises expand their market, secure raw material supplies and ease exporters’ difficulties.