by BLOOMBERG

HANOI • Vietnam’s growth accelerated in the third quarter (3Q) to more than 7%, with the economy on track to remain among the world’s fastest.

Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 7.46% in 3Q from a year earlier, compared to a revised 6.28% in the previous three months, the General Statistics Office said in Hanoi last Friday. Bloomberg reported the GDP data last Thursday. The economy expanded 6.41% in the nine months through September, compared to the 6.1% that economists estimated.

The strong growth eases pressure on Vietnam’s officials to add more stimulus to meet a target of 6.7% economic expansion this year. Exports will remain strong because of new factories opening and rising commo

dity prices, the Asian Development Bank said in a report this month, as it predicted growth of more than 6% this year and next.

The central bank is among a handful of Asian monetary regulators to ease policy this year, unexpectedly cutting its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three years in July. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in August also asked the central bank to take steps to bring down banks’ lending rates to help businesses.

In Asia, economies growing more than 6% a year include China, India and the Philippines.

Manufacturing rose 12.8% in the nine months through September from a year earlier. Exports increased 19.8% while trade deficit was US$442 million (RM1.87 billion) in the period. —Bloomberg