With a growth target of 6-6.5 per cent for 2023 as a whole, GDP growth in the third quarter of the year of 5.33 per cent was lower than the scenario. This shows that growth pressure in the fourth quarter of 2023 will be quite high, but growth trends have become more positive, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, General Director of the the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).Explaining why GDP growth in the third quarter of 2023 was lower than expected, Ms. Huong said the economy in the first nine months has faced many difficulties and challenges.