The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) has devised two growth scenarios for the second half of 2021, said Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong.

At a press conference following the Government’s regular meeting in Hanoi on July 1, Phuong said under the first scenario with a growth target of 6% for the whole year, growth in the third and fourth quarters should reach 6.2% and 6.5%, respectively, provided that the COVID-19 pandemic is basically curbed in July and there are no pandemic clusters in industrial parks and no social distancing in major cities and provinces.

To achieve a 6.5% growth rate this year under the second scenario, the country must reach growth of 7% in the third quarter and 7.5% and above in the fourth quarter providing that the pandemic is controlled in June and there are no pandemic clusters in industrial parks and no social distancing in major cities and provinces.

The MoPI reported that the economy encountered challenges in the first half of this year, mostly from COVID-19 outbreaks with new variants, rising prices in real estate, materials, transportation and international trade risks.

In the first half of this year, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.64%, higher than 1.82% recorded in the same period last year but lower than 7.05% and 6.77% in the same periods in 2018 and 2019. The consumer price index went up 1.47% in the first half of this year, the lowest since 2016.

As of June 23, credit grew by 5.08% from late 2020 and 15.41% year-on-year.

State budget collections hit 57.7% of the estimate, up 15.3% annually. Total budget expenditure was down 4.9% year-on-year, or 41.2% of the yearly estimate. Food security was still ensured.