Stakeholders have forecast that Vietnam’s inflation rate in 2023 will only be around 3.5 per cent.

Inflationary pressure from currency and exchange rate fluctuations together with higher fuel and raw materials prices are likely to have peaked in 2022 and will ease in 2023, according to Nguyen Duc Do, Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics-Finance at the Academy of Finance.

Inflation is forecast to be lower in 2023 due to cautious monetary policies from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in 2022 and the risk of the global economy falling into recession.

The country’s target of keeping inflation at 4.5 per cent or even below 4 per cent in 2023 is reachable, he told a conference in Hanoi on January 4.

Inflation actually declined in December, when core inflation rose just 0.33 per cent over November.

Associate Professor Ngo Tri Long pointed to a number of advantages in 2023, including recovery momentum and inflation being well-controlled in 2022.

However, Le Thanh Nga from the Ministry of Planning and Investment said there remain factors putting pressure on inflation, such as fluctuations in the world market and rising prices for power, water, education, and healthcare.