Vietnam growth slows

HANOI: Vietnam’s economic growth slowed to 4% in the first three months of this year, its slowest rate in three years as the government prioritised fighting inflation, official data showed yesterday.
The rate was well down on the 5.57% posted in the same period last year and the weakest since the 3.1% notched in the first quarter of 2009.
Growth had been low as “all sectors and areas of the economy encountered difficulties in business, production and consumption, especially in the processing and manufacturing industry,” said the General Statistics Office (GSO).
It said business and production activities had been hit by high interest rates. –  AFP