Standard Chartered ups Vietnam's 2024 growth forecast to 6.8% from 6%

The country’s economic growth momentum has been relatively strong, with improvement across multiple sectors, including imports and exports, retail sales, real estate, tourism, construction and manufacturing, the bank’s economists said in a report.

Trade recovery and increased business activities and foreign investment will be the main boosters for 2025 and beyond, they noted.

“While we remain cautious on Vietnam’s economy near-term, we also acknowledge the economy’s ability to perform better than market expectations,” Tim Leelahaphan, Standard Chartered Bank economist for Thailand and Vietnam, was quoted as saying by a domestic news outlet.

“The government’s push for stronger economic growth may help maintain low interest rates in the near future, and Fed [US Federal Reserve] moves will also be key to the State Bank of Vietnam’s monetary policy decisions. We now expect a 50-basis point rate hike next year, rather than in Q4/2024 as previously anticipated,” he added.

The organisation projected that Fed rate cuts will result in a US dollar-VND exchange rate at 24,500 by the end of this year and 24,300 by mid-next year.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)