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HANOI - Vietnam's inflation rate this year may stay below 7 percent, below earlier government and World Bank forecasts, state-run newspaper quoted a government minister on Tuesday as saying.
Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang said keeping the annual inflation at below 7 percent was "fully feasible" if the industrial sector expands 13-14 percent a month between now and year-end, the Lao Dong newspaper reported.
With such monthly growth, the sector would make a significant contribution to Vietnam's economic growth, expected at between 6.5-6.7 percent this year, Hoang told a ministry meeting to review performance in the first eight months of 2010.
In May Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung raised the government's inflation target for this year to 8 percent from 7 percent, and said the central bank will increase liquidity in the economy by boosting money supply.
Forecasts released early this year by the Asian Development Bank placed Vietnam's 2010 inflation at 10 percent while the World Bank projected a 9 percent consumer price increase.
The monthly consumer price index in January-August rose an average 8.61 percent from a year ago, while annual inflation in August eased to 8.18 percent from 8.19 percent in July and 8.69 percent in June, government statistics show.
Last Wednesday a state media report quoted Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of the Finance Ministry-run Price Management Department, as saying full-year inflation could be as low as 7 percent.
Hoang urged businesses to pay more attention to expanding retail sales in order to stabilize domestic markets in the remaining months of this year and avoid unexpected price changes caused by intermediaries, Lao Dong said.
Experts said a central bank devaluation of the dong last month did not affect the country's consumer price index.
On Aug 18 the central bank cut the dong exchange rate by around 2 percent against the dollar, saying the move was to help control the trade gap.
The Vietnamese government has also projected inflation next year at around 7 percent and the economic growth at 7.5 percent.
