HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The modest growth of total retail sales of goods and services in May has suggested that Viet Nam's purchasing power has not improved.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), retail sales in May was estimated to reach VND215.5 trillion (US$10.260 billion), a rise of 0.8 per cent over last month.

The figure is $50.757 billion from the beginning of the year, only 4.8 per cent higher than the same period last year.

May's meagre growth is the highest increase of 2013, but it is still only one third of the rate recorded in the years before the economy fell into recession.

According to Vu Manh Ha from GSO, purchasing power was unlikely to improve in the coming months, despite the consumer price index being kept under control at a single digit.

He warned that there was even a high possibility of a decline as there were still a large number of enterprises who had temporarily halted their operations.

GSO's statistics showed that the number of enterprises stopping production increased by 13 per cent over the same period last year. — VNS