Ho Chi Minh City’s economy exhibited many positive signs in the first five months of the year, with growth in industrial production, a recovery in purchasing power, and rising disbursement of public investment capital.

The city posted gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of 5.87 per cent year-on-year, ranking it second among 5 centrally-run cities and 35th out of Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces, figures from the city’s Statistics Office show.

Its Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.62 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Total retail sales of goods surged 9.4 per cent year-on-year, while revenue from lodging and catering services rose 34.8 per cent.

The city licensed 374 FDI projects with total registered capital of $200 million in the period, a year-on-year increase of 60.5 per cent in number but down 2.4 per cent in value.

Disbursement of public investment capital reached 12.9 per cent of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.