Drought holds back Vietnam's economic growth in Q2 2016

By Reuters June 27, 2016 | 10:48 pm PT

Vietnam's annual economic growth slowed to an estimated 5.55 percent in the second quarter, the weakest for the three-month period in two years, the government said on Tuesday.

Vietnam’s economy expanded an estimated 5.52 percent in the first half of this year, down from the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said in its report on Tuesday.

The office revised up economic growth for the January-June period of 2015 to 6.32 percent, from 6.28 percent in its earlier estimate. Adverse weather, including drought in the Central Highlands coffee belt and salination in the Mekong Delta food basket, have affected industrial and agricultural productions as well as Vietnam's export and import sector.

Agriculture output dropped 0.8 percent in the first six months of the year from the same period in 2015, said the statistics office.

Vietnam's economy expanded 6.68 percent in 2015, the fastest pace since 2007 and extending growth momentum that started in 2012, when it had slipped to 5.25 percent from 6.24 percent the previous year.

The government has projected economic growth of 6.7 percent this year.

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