In its outlook, ADB raised its prediction of Vietnam’s economic growth rate in 2010 and 2011 by 0.2 percent to 6.7 percent and 7 percent perceptively.

The reason for ADB’s optimitism is that the country has successfully shifted from the strong fiscal and monetary stimulus implemented during the global recession in 2008-2009 to a more balanced policy that helped stabilise financial and economic conditions.

The outlook also praised the Vietnamese government’s measures which contributed to improving the foreign currency reserves. This has led to a small surplus in the overall balance of payments in the second quarter this year, after recording deficits since the beginning of last year.

Ayumi Konishi, Vietnam Country Director for ADB said that since ADB held a press conference on its Report on the Asian Development Outlook in April 2010, Vietnam has strengthened its macroeconomic stability which enabled ADB to raise its prediction for Vietnam’s economic growth in 2010 and 2011 and lower its forecast of the country’s inflation rate.

The outlook mentioned the country’s National Assembly for strengthening the authority of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to implement monetary policy and safeguard the financial system by approving a new SBV Law and a new Credit Institution Law in June 2010.

However, in a new socioeconomic development strategy for the next ten years as a middle income country, Vietnam should be very cautious about maintaining its macroeconomic stability and effectively inform the people of the policies while promoting further reform.

Vietnam should continue its efforts to raise public awareness of the country’s policies through providing timely information and statistics. This should be applied to both the government and the businesses to enhance the administrative capability in both state-owned enterprises and the private sector. The most important factor is providing quality and up to date information to business holders, shareholders and potential investors, said Konishi.

Last year, ADB ratified a total credit of US$16.1 billion for the country’s loans, non-refundable assistance, commercial capital, shares investment and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilised co-sponsored capital sources totaling US$3.2 billion.

The Asian Development Outlook and its updated publication are ADB’s key economic reports analysing the economic conditions and prospects in Asia and the Pacific and are issued each year in April and September.

Vietnam will host the ADB 44^th annual summit in Hanoi in May 2011.