Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. - Photo: Vietnam News/ANN
HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's economy is robust enough to withstand external shocks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a business conference on Monday. Chinh said that 8% growth this year was achievable.
Last month, Chinh told parliament that the government was aiming for growth of 10% in 2026, despite the United States imposing a tariff of 20% on imports from Vietnam.
The US is Vietnam's biggest export market. Shipments to the US have fallen since August month-on-month, government data showed last week, although for the first 10 months of the year.
Vietnam still recorded a $111 billion trade surplus with Washington.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Vietnam's economy must grow at least 8.4% in the final quarter of the year if the nation is to meet the government's 2025 target of more than 8% expansion, quoting Pham on Saturday.
Chinh, speaking at his monthly cabinet meeting, said the nation's traditional economic drivers - attracting large-scale projects funded by foreign investments, exports, and domestic consumption - are not meeting expectations, according to a post on the government's website.
US tariffs have slowed exports, domestic consumption through October is lagging behind the government's target of 12% for the year, and the disbursement of public investment remains behind schedule, Chinh said.
The government is in advanced negotiations for trade agreements with South America's Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Chinh said.
"The goal is to ensure a balanced, reasonable, and effective relationship between growth and inflation, both in the short- and long-term," he said, according to the statement. A "reasonable, flexible, and effective exchange rate and interest rates" are needed, as well as a stable domestic gold market, the prime minister said.
Key tasks of officials include ensuring macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and pursuing polices that boost growth. The government must accelerate infrastructure projects, including the completion of 3,245 kilometers of expressways, in the final months of the year, Chinh said.
