This is a positive sign as businesses are becoming more confident about the optimistic prospects for the national economy.

A recent survey conducted with 200 businesses in 11 key industrial sectors shows that the smaller increase in consumer prices in September and the State Bank of Vietnam’s policies to stabilise the US$/VND exchange rate and reduce the lending interest rates has contributed significantly to this optimism.

Accordingly, nearly half the businesses surveyed want to employ more workers and a similar number already have their new investment plans. About 75 percent expect a rise in profits within the next 12 months.

However, they are still cautious regarding the complicated development of the economy. More than 40 percent of enterprises will not recruit more workers and 10 percent said they will reduce their number of staff.

Around 60 percent of businesses said that the high amount of goods in stock has pushed production costs up. Inflation and expensive input materials have also affected production in 75 percent of the surveyed businesses.

They said they still face challenges due to fierce competition and the lack of investment capital and skilled human resources.