Economic indicators in Q1 revealed

VGP – Viet Nam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was estimated to grow by 4.96% in the first quarter of this year- the highest level over the last three years, showing signs of “bottoming out,” according to the General Statistics Office.

March 26, 2014 5:24 PM GMT+7

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Although GDP in Q1, 2014 was lower than 5% and weakly went up, it was higher than 4.76% inthe same period of 2012 and 4.75% in 2013.

Specifically, agro-forestry and fishery production surged by 2.37%, higher than 2.34% of the same period last year. Industry and building soared by 4.9% from 4.59% last year. The service sector picked up by 5.95% against 4.68% in 2013.

* ODA disbursement up

ODA disbursement was estimated at US$ 364 million in January-March, up 5% against the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI).

Two biggest ODA projects included a US$ 251.7 million one funded by the World Bank to improve efficiency and sustainability of the road asset management and maintenance practices in Viet Nam and the non-refundable aid worth US$ 13.56 million for the second phase of the Viet Nam-Finland Innovation Partnership Program.

In the first quarter, FDI inflows valued US$ 3.33 billion, down 49.6% against the same period last year.

However, the FDI sector still operated efficiently, shipping US$ 22.47 billion worth of crude oil abroad and occupying 62.3% of total export turnover. It gained a trade surplus of US$ 3.92 billion, including those earned from crude oil.

* Industrial production grows up slightly

According to the MoPI, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased by 5.2% in Q1, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.9%.

The processing and manufacturing industries expanded by 7.3%; electricity production and distribution 9.2%; water supply and sewage treatment 5.7%. The mining industry declined by 2.9%.

In the third month, the IIP was forecast to increase by 4.7% against the same period last year.

* Agro-forestry-fishery sector expands faintly

The agro-forestry-fishery sector earned US$ 2.64 billion in export turnover in March, bringing the total figure to US$ 6.9 billion in Q1, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Export of agriculture products valued US$ 3.35 billion; aquatic products US$ 1.61 billion and forestry items US$ 1.47 billion.

Especially, Viet Nam shipped over 1.31 million tons of rice abroad, pocketing US$ 616 million in value.

Export of aquatic products boomed with US$ 1.61 billion in revenue, jumping 35% against the same period last year./.

By Huong Giang