Further reducing mid- and long-term lending interest rates is a priority task, the Government says in the resolution of its regular monthly meeting for March.

The State Bank is required to try and reduce the interest rate by 1-1.5 percent using market tools, while continuing with a proactive and flexible monetary policy. The Government also emphasizes that foreign exchange management should be based on the ultimate goal of macroeconomic stability, fully taking into account the impacts of foreign exchange rate on import-export, inflation and public debt. At the same time, strong measures should continue to be taken to restructure the system of credit organisations and settle bad debts.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is tasked with speeding up the disbursement of investment capital from the State budget, Government bonds, Official Development Assistance (ODA), foreign direct investment (FDI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) sources.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is to follow the developments of world oil price and have plans in place to respond accordingly in a proactive manner. The ministry should intensify inspections to discover and strictly punish such illegal activities as tax evasion and pricing transfer with a view to curbing tax losses. Management of State budget will be tightened to ensure effective and economically spending, while debt payment will be carried out in line with budget estimates. Attention will be paid to restructuring the securities and insurance market in order to enhance their roles in mobilizing mid- and long-term capital for development investment.

The Ministry of Finance is tasked to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to seek tax solutions to ensure the country fulfils commitments on import-export tariff reduction while still protecting and promoting domestic production.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is told to work on expanding markets for local exports, especially farm and fishery products.

All ministries, agencies and local administrations are instructed to work harder in implementing the government resolution 19/NQ-CP dated March 12, 2015 on main tasks and solutions to improve business environment and lifting national competitive capacity in 2015-2016.

The resolution also urges relevant ministries and agencies to continue with efforts in dealing with outstanding issues such as the prolonged drought in the central and Central Highlands regions and hospital overload, besides implementing the yearly working plans in their respective fields./.