HANOI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Despite continued difficulties and challenges for Vietnam's economy in 2023, there were still silver linings to pin hope on if flexible policies were adopted, local media reported on Monday citing local experts.
Unpredictable factors would have a significant impact on the southeast Asian country's socio-economic development, local newspaper Vietnam News quoted Nguyen Duc Hien, deputy head of the Central Economic Commission, as saying.
Vietnam's major importers and exporters, including the United States, South Korea and Japan, were forecast to be affected by the looming economic recession, which would affect some industries of Vietnam, he said.
It was necessary for Vietnam to develop different scenarios to find both short- and long-term solutions to maintain macroeconomic stability and ensure major balances of the economy, the official said.
Nguyen Xuan Thanh, a university lecturer, said difficulties would remain in the second half of this year. However, there was still light at the end of the tunnel for Vietnam to optimize policies and solve the internal problems of the Vietnamese economy.
It was necessary to promote the disbursement of foreign direct investment and public investment, Thanh said, adding that the monetary policy must be flexible and interest rates must be lowered.
Can Van Luc, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said with experiences in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and handling medium fiscal risk, as well as crisis and risk management, there was scope for growth in 2023.
A report by the Central Institute for Economic Management forecast that Vietnam's economic outlook will be more volatile than last year with GDP growth expected to reach 6.83 percent in its best case scenario. ■