GDP in the first nine months of the year rose 5.93 per cent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported at a meeting on September 29. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Y

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — GDP in the first nine months of the year rose 5.93 per cent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported at a meeting on September 29.

GDP in the third quarter also increased by 6.4 per cent, higher than the 5.48 per cent in Q1 and the 5.78 per cent in Q2.

At the meeting to report the country's economy in the first nine months of the year, GSO director Nguyen Bich Lam, however, said the rise in Q3 this year was still lower than the 6.53 per cent increase in Q3 of 2015. Lam attributed it mainly to a continuous decline of the mining industry and a slowdown of the agricultural industry.

According to GSO, the mining industry declined 3.6 per cent in the first nine months due to a crude oil output reduction and a drop in coal price.

The agriculture-forestry-fisheries sector also rose only 0.65 per cent in the first nine months, the lowest level in the past six years. The industry contributed just 0.11 percentage points to the country's GDP growth.

GSO, however, appreciated efforts made by the agriculture-forestry-fisheries sector to increase growth following the country's adverse weather during the period.

The industrial and construction sector reported the highest growth in the first nine months. The sector contributed 2.52 percentage points to the country's GDP growth thanks to a rise of 7.5 per cent.

However, GSO said the industrial and construction sector still faced difficulties as its growth was much lower than the rising rate of 9.86 per cent in the nine months of the previous year.

The service sector reported a rise of 6.66 per cent, contributing 2.55 percentage points to the country's GDP growth.

GSO assessed that the economic growth in the first nine months remained stable, saying that though GDP growth during the period was lower than that in 2011 and 2015, it remained higher than that in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Besides this, GSO added, major indicators of the economy, such as inflation and credit growth, were also kept stable. Consumer price index in the first nine months rose only 2.07 per cent against the same period last year and credit growth increased by 10.46 per cent compared with the end of 2015.

GSO's Lam expected that GDP would further grow in the last quarter of the year thanks to positive signals.

Firstly, he said, GDP growth was on an upward trend. He reported that GDP in Q1 rose 5.48 per cent and then by 5.78 per cent in Q2 and 5.93 per cent in Q3.

Secondly, production value of the processing and manufacturing industry, which accounts for more than 75 per cent of the entire industrial sector's figure, rising 8.3 per cent in the first nine months, is forecast to continue its surge, contributing to the country's GDP growth.

Thirdly, Lam expected the agricultural sector would further grow as the Government is speeding up the restructuring of the industry through the application of new breeding to make it adapt to disadvantages caused by adverse weather.

Viet Nam targeted GDP growth of 6.7 per cent this year. However, some international organisations forecast Viet Nam could miss this target mainly due to the adverse weather conditions.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a new report on Tuesday that Viet Nam's economy is expected to grow 6 per cent this year, revising its June forecast of 6.7 per cent.

Last month, Standard Chartered Bank also lowered its GDP growth forecast for Viet Nam in 2016 to 6 per cent, 0.9 per cent lower than the forecast it made at the beginning of the year. — VNS