Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on July 6 chaired a government meeting to review the socio-economic performance in June and the first half of this year.

The meeting was also attended by leaders of all centrally-run 63 cities and provinces nationwide via virtual format.

At the meeting, government members reviewed the disbursement of public investment capital and the implementation of three national target programs, and outlined major tasks for the second half of the year.

In the first half of this year, macroeconomic stability was ensured, inflation controlled, growth promoted, and major balances of the economy secured, according to a report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Addressing the meeting, the Prime Minister pointed out that strategic competition among major powers, conflicts, sharp increase in gold and dollar prices, fluctuations in prices of crude oil and commodities, along with climate change, resource depletion, and population aging are increasingly affected countries and economies around the world.

Vietnam’s economy is therefore suffering dual impacts from both adverse external factors and internal limitations and inadequacies, according to the PM.

The government leader asked participants to clearly identify achievements and shortcomings that need to be fixed as well as lessons learned in socio-economic development in June and the first half. Based on this, they were required to put forward key solutions and breakthrough measures to carry out tasks in the second half.

Vietnam targets to achieve GDP growth of 6.5-7% and keep inflation below 4.5% in the third quarter of this year, according to the Prime Minister.

Despite challenges, official data showed that the economy performed better across fields compared to the first half and the second half last year, however.

The country’s GDP was increased by  6.93% in the second quarter of this year. As a result, it expanded by 6.42% year-on-year in the first half of 2024, only lower than that of the first half of 2022, compared to the same period since 2020.

As of June 20, foreign investment inflows into Vietnam in the first half, as of June 20, reached $15.19 billion, an increase of 13.1% year on year.

The disbursement of FDI capital in the period recorded a five-year high of $10.84 billion.

Meanwhile, the country’s foreign trade value reached $368.53 billion in the first six months of the year, with trade surplus standing at $11.63 billion.

In the same period, Vietnam welcomed more than 8.8 million international visitors, a year-on-year increase of 58.4% t and up 4.1% compared to the same period in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic .