Vietnam's finance ministry told the government on Thursday that consumer prices in 2023 are expected to rise by between 3.2% and 3.7%, lower than the 4.5% it forecast at the start of the year, local media VnExpress reported.

Vietnam, a regional manufacturing hub, is facing slowing economy expansion amid tepid global demand, with the central bank cutting its policy rates four times so far this year to prop up growth as it said it was confident to manage inflation.

The Southeast Asian country's average consumer prices rose 3.12% in the first seven months of this year, official data showed, with core inflation up 4.65% in the period.

"Price management for the rest of this year is more favourable," VnExpress cited a finance ministry representative at a government meeting.

"Based on the ministry's calculation from two scenarios, CPI will be from 3.2% to 3.7%, well below the target."

At the meeting, finance ministry also said that the State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, added $3.07 billion to the foreign reserves, according to VnExpress.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; editing by Jason Neely and Bernadette Baum)