HANOI, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's economy will expand 6.6 percent this year, down from last year's 7.1 percent, international bank HSBC forecast in its latest report.

Meanwhile, the country's inflation rate would be 3.1 percent, meeting the central bank's target of below 4 percent, Vietnam News Agency cited the report as reporting on Friday.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.8 percent, down from 7.3 percent a year ago, with manufacturing industry being the largest driver that expanded 13.1 percent, said HSBC.

Earlier this week, the Asian Development Bank predicted Vietnam's economy will grow 6.8 percent in 2019 and 6.7 percent in 2020. Standard Chartered Bank has recently forecast Vietnam will see a stable economic growth of 6.9 percent in 2019.

Vietnam gained GDP growth of 7.08 percent last year, up from the annualized target of 6.5-6.7 percent, its General Statistics Office said, adding that the country's top legislature has set a target of attaining GDP growth of 6.6-6.8 percent this year.