VEPR Director Nguyen Duc Thanh said that growth in the fourth quarter could reach 7.12%, building on the strong growth in the previous three months, which the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported at 7.46%. However, Thanh warned that inflation for the whole year is projected at 4.16%, exceeding the government’s targeted ceiling of 4%. The report on Vietnam’s economic performance in the third quarter was released at a seminar that brought together a number of economic experts on October 11. According to senior economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, Vietnam’s growth this year has a high probability of hitting 6.7% but noted that the government should have plans in place to deal with global uncertainties.