Proactively respond to fluctuations, maintain growth momentum
In the context that the world economy continues to be affected by geopolitical conflicts, energy price fluctuations, supply chain breakdowns and trade instability, Vietnam's economy still maintains strong recovery momentum. GDP in the first 6 months of 2026 increased by 8.18% - the highest level since 2011; inflation is controlled, state budget revenue reached nearly 1.62 million billion VND, public investment is promoted, and major balances of the economy continue to be ensured. This is an important foundation to move towards the growth target for the whole year.
The Ministry of Finance assessed that the growth results in the first 6 months of the year were assessed as outstanding compared to previous years, especially the second quarter created a strong breakthrough, forming a solid foundation for completing the growth target for the whole year 2026.
This result is even more meaningful as 2026 is the first year of implementing the new development plan, and also the year the new Government is consolidated and quickly inherits the operating experience of the previous term. In a very short time, the Government both focused on reviewing and consolidating the organizational structure, implementing the arrangement of administrative units, and continuously maintaining the direction and administration of socio-economic development.
According to leaders of the Ministry of Finance, usually after a large-scale organizational restructuring, the system needs a period of time to stabilize before operating smoothly. However, thanks to proactively completing preparations from the end of 2025, Vietnam still maintained its socio-economic development momentum. This is also one of the factors highly appreciated by many international organizations for Vietnam's adaptive and operational capacity.
In addition, under pressure from geopolitical conflicts causing energy prices, raw materials and logistics costs to increase sharply, operating agencies have proactively reviewed major balances of the economy, ensuring energy security, maintaining supply for production and quickly implementing solutions to support businesses. Tax and fee reduction policies for gasoline and oil, along with many fiscal and monetary solutions, have contributed to reducing cost pressure, helping businesses maintain production and business operations.
6-month picture with many bright spots
Assessing the economic picture in the first 6 months of the year, Dr. Can Van Luc - Chief Economist of BIDV said that the economy recorded many positive results in terms of policy management and recovery of growth drivers.
According to Mr. Luc, the outstanding bright spot is the process of perfecting institutions, improving the investment and business environment being promoted. The National Assembly has passed 9 laws and 10 resolutions; The Government has promulgated more than 280 legal documents, and at the same time continues to complete many draft laws and resolutions submitted to the National Assembly. Along with that, resolutions on private economic development, state economy and FDI sector are creating an important policy framework to unlock resources, improve competitiveness and resilience of the economy.
Along with institutional reform, fiscal and monetary policies continue to be managed in a proactive, flexible and closely coordinated direction. Many support policies are maintained such as tax and fee exemptions, reductions, and extensions with a scale of about 9,000 billion VND; raising the taxable revenue threshold for business households to 1 billion VND per year; orienting credit capital flows into priority areas such as social housing, industrial parks and key projects.
These efforts aim to unlock resources, promote growth drivers, strive to achieve 10% growth in 2026, while maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation and ensuring major balances of the economy," Dr. Can Van Luc assessed.
According to Mr. Luc, growth in the first 6 months of the year was supported by both supply and demand. The industrial and construction sector increased by 9.81%, the highest among the three economic sectors; processing and manufacturing industry continued to play the main driving force. The service sector increased by 8.09%, while agriculture, forestry and fishery reached the highest growth rate in 7 years.
On the demand side, final consumption increased by 8.15%, total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue increased by 12.9%; total social investment capital increased by 12.9%; nearly 170,000 businesses entered the market, up 11.2% over the same period. Notably, up to 83.4% of businesses assessed that production and business activities in the third quarter would be stable or improved. In addition, Moody's has raised Vietnam's national credit outlook to "positive", creating more room to attract investment and strengthening the confidence of the business community and investors.
