The Ministry of Finance has announced that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on April 29 gave Vietnam a crediting rating of BB-/B and a stable outlook, unchanged from the ratings announced in March 2015.
Accordingly, the stable outlook reflects Vietnam’s economic growth, while macro-economic factors have been positively recognised with improved outlook by the agency and investors.
The factors that contributed to the positive S&P ratings include a relatively diverse and flexible economy, and per capita income reaching an estimated 2,200 USD in 2016.
Besides, macroeconomic stability at a relatively high level is a factor that makes a positive impact on export and foreign direct investment.
In the past two years, appropriate socio-economic development policies have contributed to macroeconomic stability and effective inflation control at a low level.
Stable export growth, FDI, and remittances that tended to increase, along with the comparative advantage on labour costs compared to other countries in the region, continue to be significant factors that help to improve the balance of payments and the economy’s competitiveness.
S&P also noted that, in the coming time, Vietnam should pay attention to controlling its budget overspending, and the increase rate of public debt and bad debt in the banking sector.
The issues have been also recognised by the Vietnamese Government and National Assembly with detailed plans to tackle them from now to 2020, aimed at controlling and bringing the budget over-expenditure to below 4 percent of GDP and keeping the public debt growth rate within the ceiling limit of 65 percent of GDP./.