The European Union last week said it was ready to start talks on a trade agreement with the United States and aims to conclude a deal before year-end. SEE MORE Việt Nam's fiscal deficit will stay high at 5.7 per cent (including interest repayment) in 2019 due to delays in the divestment of State-owned enterprises (SOE) and lower import tax revenues, according to Fitch Group’s Fitch Solutions forecast. SEE MORE HÀ NỘI The handling of bad debt among credit institutions would be audited this year in order to formulate recommendations for effectively implementing a National Assembly resolution, according to the State Audit Office of Việt Nam (SAV). SEE MORE Vietnam’s inflation rate is predicted to average 3.5 per cent in 2019 but inch to 3.8 per cent in 2020, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report published on its website on April 3. SEE MORE The Vietnamese economy will grow 6.6% in 2019, slightly decreasing from last year’s figure of 7.1%, according to the HSBC. SEE MORE