Typhoon Yagi costs Vietnam $1.6 billion, may dent growth, planning ministry estimates By Reuters

HANOI (Reuters) – Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s strongest storm this year, has cost Vietnam about $1.6 billion and could reduce the country’s growth rate, according to preliminary estimates from the investment ministry.

Vietnam’s economic growth in 2024 could slow by 0.15 percent from the previous forecast due to the impact of the typhoon, a ministry report said. It had previously forecast an expansion of 6.8%-7% this year.

Among the worst-hit sectors are agriculture, forestry and fishing, where growth could fall by 0.33 percent, the ministry said, while industry and construction could see an impact of less than 5 basis points.

However, highly industrialized areas such as Thai Nguyen, Haiphong provinces could grow more slowly by 0.5 percent as they bore the brunt of the typhoon, the ministry said.

The typhoon, which made landfall on September 7, has killed at least 292 people and left 38 missing as of Monday morning, according to data from Vietnam’s disaster agency.

“GDP growth in the third and fourth quarters could decline by 0.35 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively, compared to the scenario without Typhoon Yagi,” according to the ministry’s report.

The floods also inundated 190,000 hectares (469,500 acres) of rice fields, 48,000 hectares of cash crops such as corn and cassava and affected nearly 232,000 homes in northern Vietnam, according to the disaster agency.

The city of Haiphong, home to several industrial parks, saw losses and damages from the typhoon amounting to about 11 trillion dong ($448.43 million), the city said.

In a separate statement released by the government, Vietnam said it had struggled to control inflation and achieve gross domestic product growth of about 7 percent this year, despite the blow from Typhoon Yagi.

(1 USD = 24,530.0000 dong)