The national economy is expected to achieve higher growth and inflation is likely to drop further in the second half of 2012, according to ANZ Bank’s latest report released on August 2.

The report predicted that Vietnam’s inflation would stand at 6-7 percent in the next two quarters of this year. The country’s current policies are going on the right track to boost economic growth and control inflation in the 2012-2013 period. The Government of Vietnam can continue loosing its monetary policies, it said.

The report expressed ANZ’s concern about the negative impact of the global economic downturn on Vietnam’s economic growth, saying it’s no easy task to achieve an average growth rate of 5.5 percent in 2012.

It said global economic fluctuations in recent years have lowered Vietnam’s industrial growth, which plays a key role in the national economy. Retail sales in July showed a modest increase of 22.2 percent, one percent lower than the previous month.

The report also forecast that Vietnam would continue reducing banks’ interest rates in the next six months to boost economic growth.