Despite the spiral increase of some essential commodities, foodstuff and services in the first eight months of 2022, domestic inflation rate this year is projected at between 3.5-3.8%. This conclusion was made by the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) in its study on Inflation in Vietnam 2022 and Policy Recommendations published on September 16.

Responding to a journalist’ question about how Vietnam could keep inflation rate so low while the US and Eurozone economies are witnessing record increase Dr. Can Van Luc, economist of Bank of Investment and Development Vietnam (BIDV) said inflation is calculated based on 750 different types of goods so high prices of certain items can not reflect the increase of inflation. Regarding the US and the Eurozone economies it is advisable to take into account PPI (producer price index) and core inflation. Dr. Luc also said that the Government’s success in stabilizing food and petrol prices was attributed to the country’s good economic recovery. However, he warned that Vietnam’s inflation has not reached its peak because of a lag and that inflationary pressure for 2023 will be higher with inflation rate of 4-4.5%.

Discussing inflation control versus growth, Dr. Vu Dinh Anh, economic expert from the Ministry of Finance, said that Vietnam’s top priority is macro-economic stabilization. The country would never sacrifice inflation for development, he added. There never exists such a policy of reducing public investment disbursement to fight inflation, Dr. Anh confirmed.

VEPR's full report is availabe in Vietnamese language. The sumarry is in English and Vietnamese.