Vietnam's GDP growth slows as global demand weighs on exports

Hanoi, March 29 (IANS) Vietnam's economy in the first quarter grew at the second lowest rate in the past 12 years as weakening global demand weighed on exports, official data showed on Wednesday.

The growth of gross domestic product was 3.32 per cent in the January-March period, down from 5.92 per cent in the fourth quarter and 5.03 per cent in the first quarter last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

Processing and manufacturing, with a 35.47-per cent weight of the basket, dipped 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, while services, the largest category, rose 6.79 per cent and agriculture gained 2.52 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the Office as saying.

"The economy in the first quarter has achieved positive developments despite global uncertainties," GSO head Nguyen Thi Huong said.

Seafood exports plunged 29 per cent from a year earlier to $1.78 billion in the quarter, while exports of smartphone, among the largest export earners for the country, fell 15 per cent to $13 billion, the GSO said.

Overall, Vietnam's exports in the first quarter dipped 11.9 per cent from a year earlier to $79.2 billion, compared with an annual expansion of 12.9 per cent in the same period last year.

Vietnam's GDP growth, facing headwinds from a global slowdown, is expected to slow to 6.3 per cent in 2023, according to the World Bank, after a strong rebound last year when the economy grew 8.02 per cent backed by strong domestic consumption and export-oriented manufacturing.

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