Vietnam disbursed over VND363.3 trillion ($15.1 billion) worth of public investment capital in the first nine months of this year, equivalent to 51.38 per cent of the annual target, figures from the Ministry of Finance show.

This is the first year that disbursement of public investment capital has exceeded 50 per cent in the nine-month period, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong told a government press briefing in Hanoi on September 30.

Disbursement in the first nine months of 2022 was 46.7 per cent, he said.

There is a huge amount of capital this year so disbursement of 51.38 per cent is a positive result, he said.

Providing information on outstanding socio-economic results in the third quarter and the first nine months, Deputy Minister Phuong said Vietnam posted GDP growth of 5.33 per cent in the third quarter, exceeding expectations and contributing to a nine-month figure of 4.24 per cent.

He added that one of the highlight socio-economic results was growth in the domestic market in the context of export difficulties. Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the nine-month period rose 9.7 per cent year-on-year.