Workers examine smartphone components at a factory in the northern
province of Hai Duong. Photo by VnExpress/Thu Nguyen. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its 2020 GDP forecast for Vietnam from 1.8 percent to 2.3 percent following positive signs in public investment and domestic consumption. 

This follows three downward revisions the bank had made in April, June and September due to Covid-19 impacts.

The bank saw Vietnam’s GDP growth pick up from 0.4 percent in the second quarter to 2.6 percent in the third quarter, lifting average growth in the first nine months by 2.1 percent, with accelerated public investment, revived domestic consumption and expanding trade.

The bank also revised down Vietnam’s growth forecast next year by 0.2 percentage points to 6.1 percent.

South Asia’s GDP is forecast to contract by 6.1 percent in 2020, revised up from the 6.8 percent contraction predicted in September.

"The outlook for developing Asia is showing improvement. A prolonged pandemic remains the primary risk, but recent developments on the vaccine front are tempering this," said ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada.

With the pandemic stifling economic activity, Vietnam has set a revised GDP growth target of 2-3 percent this year, down from the 7.02 percent it achieved last year.