Exports help lift Vietnam's GDP growth to 6.81pc

HANOI, Dec 27 (Reuters): Vietnam's economy grew more quickly this year than in 2016 because of higher domestic demand, record export earnings and the government's economic reforms, the head of the General Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

According to preliminary government estimates, growth in 2017 quickened to 6.81 per cent from 6.21 per cent a year earlier.

In the last quarter of 2017, the Southeast Asian nation's economy expanded 7.65 per cent from a year earlier, faster than the 6.68 per cent annual growth in October-December 2016.

Nguyen Bich Lam, head of the General Statistics Office, said 2017 growth was higher than the government's expectation and the highest since 2011 Retail sales in Vietnam increased 10.9 per cent in 2017, Lam said, which showed "rising domestic spending".

He also cited stronger international demand, which helped lift Vietnam's exports to $213 billion.

The statistics office also said that Vietnam's average inflation rate through 2017 was 3.55 per cent. The government had set a target of no more than 4.0 per cent for inflation this year.

For December, the annual core inflation rate was 1.29 per cent, the office said.