Manufacturing activities in Vietnam hit new high in May

HO CHI MINH CITY – Vietnam’s Index of Industrial Production advanced 9.2% on-year in May, significantly surpassing growth  of 4.9% on-year and 5.7% on-year in May 2013 and May 2014, respectively. Likewise, strong growth in new orders and consequently manufacturing output caused saw May’s HSBC PMI indicator soar to 54.8, a new series-high since its launch in April 2011.

Vietnam Asset Management (VAM) says the figures indicate that conditions in Vietnam’s  manufacturing economy have been improving for 21 consecutive months.

VAM says a healthy retail sales growth rate is being driven largely driven by low inflation. Vietnam’s CPI slightly accelerated from 0.14% on-month in April to 0.16% in May due to a number of consecutive electricity and petrol price hikes.

The accommodation and construction material sub-index was the leading mover, with a 1.27% on-month increase, followed by transportation at 1.02%. However, YTD inflation as at end of May still came in low at just 0.2%, way below the FY2015 inflation target of 5%.

“Stable nation-wide price level, coupled with improving consumption, helped May2015 real retail sales advance to a four-year-high at 8.2% on-year over the same period of 2014, much higher than the real growth rate of 6% on-month recorded for May 2014,” VAM says. www.vietnamam.com ATI).