Vietnam has recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.1 percent in the first 10 months of this year, said an official of the World Bank (WB) at a press briefing on Thursday.

The service sector posted a strong growth of 8.2 percent in the period. Meanwhile, the agricultural sector rose 4.1 percent despite bad weather and bird flu, said senior economist Vivek Suri.

Between January and October, Vietnam realized export increase of 22 percent, with great contributions of oil, rice, coffee, and coal which enjoyed benefit from higher prices, he said, adding that the country's import growth was 18 percent in the period, a slowdown compared with that in the second half of this year, partly due to softened prices of some commodities.

However, inflation rate was still high, at nearly 8.5 percent in the first 10 months of this year, exceeding the country's initial target of 6.5 percent, the economist added.

The National Assembly of Vietnam has just set an economic growth target of 8 percent next year. Earlier, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said that the country is likely to post economic growth of 8.4 percent this year, compared with the target of 8.5 percent.

Source: Xinhua