VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s economy is predicted to grow 7 percent this year, down from its 8.5 percent expansion last year, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday. The forecast is from the Asian Development Outlook 2008 that ADB released the same day, one day after the World Bank announced its six-monthly review that projected the country’s economic growth at 8 percent (a base case scenario) for this year.
Speaking at a press briefing in Ha Noi, ADB country director Ayumi Konishi said the 7 percent rate “is not bad comparing with the slowdown of other economies in the region.”
The ADB report predicted that consumer prices in Viet Nam would surge to an average 15.2 percent this year, and this is a threat to the nation.
The bank forecast that the country would remain an attractive investment destination.
Last year, foreign direct investment commitments in Viet Nam almost doubled, to US$20.3 billion, according to the World Bank six-monthly review released on Monday. | 
