Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked ministries, sectors and
localities to stick to the set targets of stabilising the macro economy
and keeping the inflation rate equal to that of last year at about 6.8
percent.
While chairing the monthly cabinet meeting
in Hanoi on July 30, PM Dung urged Government agencies to closely
control prices and resolutely apply market prices for electricity and
fuel in a transparent and open manner while ensuring the balance of
supply and demand of goods, especially essential ones.
He asked the State Bank of Vietnam to continue driving the
interest rate to suit the trend of inflation decline, helping stabilise
the currency market and macro-economy, and make it easier for
enterprises to access capital.
The Ministry of Finance was
required to seriously implement finance-budget tasks, ensure a balance
of budget collection and spending, and prevent tax frauds and evasions.
At the same time, relevant agencies were also
requested to drastically restructure the economy, especially State-owned
enterprises and banks. PM Dung stressed the need for the agricultural
restructuring to ensure the sustainable development of the sector.
He urged the acceleration of land clearance for key projects as well
as the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and foreign
direct investment (FDI).
“Ministries, sectors and
localities should work closer together in market and price control,
while strictly dealing with smuggling and trading of low-quality goods,”
he said.
Switching to social welfare issues, the
Government leader called for a comprehensive package of measures to
continue the social welfare policy with focus on underprivileged groups.
He suggested more mechanisms to support the poor,
ethnic minorities and farmers in order to improve their lives, adding
that hurdles in the way of providing houses for low-income earners,
workers and students should be cleared.
The PM
directed the Ministry of Health to review and keep a close eye on the
vaccination process and step up measures to ease hospital overloads.
He also asked ministries, sectors and localities to be more active in
supplying precise and full socio-economic information to the media,
while considering feedback from the public to promote social consensus.
PM Dung commented on the socio-economic situation
in the first seven months of this year, saying that it is on the right
track and positive changes have been seen with comprehensive results,
paving the way for the success of the tasks for the whole year.
He also pointed out that many sectors have faced unsustainable and slow growth, especially agriculture and industry.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang
Vinh said the socio-economy has seen good results in the January-July
period.
He noted that the consumer price index in
July edged up 2.68 percent, the lowest growth level in 10 years.
Meanwhile, total seven-month exports were estimated at 72.74 billion
USD, up 14.3 percent year-on-year.
The index of
industrial production (IIP) rose 4.5 percent, 6 percent and 7 percent in
the first and second quarters and July respectively. The number of
newly-registered enterprises in the first seven months rose by 8.4
percent year-on-year.
In addition, social security
and welfare policies were continued to be implemented, helping improve
the lives of people, especially the poor, unemployed and ethnic
minorities.
However, Minister Vinh noted that the
economy is also encountering many difficulties due to the risk of high
inflation in the last months of the year, enterprises’ poor access to
capital, low credit growth and slow budget collection.
During the meeting, cabinet members also sought measures to remove
hurdles for the market, promote production, and rein in inflation in
line with maintaining economic recovery and settling difficulties for
the property market.
According to Minister of
Agriculture and Rural development Cao Duc Phat, the market is the
biggest problem agriculture is facing. He suggested that other
ministries join hands with his ministry to expand export markets for
agricultural products.
Minister of Construction
Trinh Dinh Dung said his ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies
and localities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City , to
effectively disburse the 30,000 billion VND housing credit package.
Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc highlighted the efficiency of Resolutions
01/NQ-CP and 02-NQ-CP in controlling inflation, maintaining reasonable
growth and ensuring social welfare.
He said
ministries, sectors and localities should pay more attention to land
clearance for key projects, strengthening administrative reforms to
create the best conditions for citizens and businesses to work with
Government agencies.
Pressing the significant role
of agriculture, Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai called for more attention to
measures to protect agricultural products in particular and export
commodities in general in order to avoid possible economic losses.
Meanwhile, Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh stressed the need to settle bad
debts, clear the way for capital flows and speed up restructuring.-VNA