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Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, has cost Vietnam about $1.6 billion and could slash the country’s growth rate, preliminary estimates from Vietnam’s investment ministry show.
Vietnam’s economic growth in 2024 may slow by 0.15 percent compared to previous forecasts due to the impact of the typhoon, the ministry said in a report. The ministry had previously forecast growth of 6.8 percent to 7 percent this year.
The typhoon, which made landfall on Sept. 7, has killed at least 292 people and left 38 others missing as of Monday morning, according to data from Vietnam’s disaster agency.
Floods have also inundated 190,000 hectares (469,500 acres) of rice fields, 48,000 hectares of lucrative crops such as corn and cassava, and damaged about 232,000 homes in northern Vietnam, according to the agency.
In a separate statement issued by the government, Vietnam said it was striving to control inflation and achieve GDP growth of around 7 percent this year despite the losses caused by Typhoon Yagi.
