Vietnamese economic growth is anticipated to reach 6.5% this year (Photo: baochinhphu.vn) The projection was made by a research team of the National Economics University at a national scientific conference held on April 25 to release the publication themed "Vietnam's economy in 2021 and prospects for 2022: Macro-economic stability and financial soundness amid the COVID-19 pandemic". Assoc. Prof. Dr. To Trung Thanh, head of the Scientific Management Division under the National University of Economics, said the local economy witnessed unprecedented challenges last year, with its economic growth falling sharply to 2.58%, the lowest recorded over the last two decades, from 2.91% in 2020. He attributed this drop to the severe recession shock in the third quarter of last year caused by the spread of the Delta variant and the nation’s low vaccination rate at the time. According to the latest publication, the Vietnamese economy is anticipated to encounter numerous difficulties