Legislators discuss measures to fulfill GDP growth target

Hanoi (VNA) – During the course of the June 9 sitting, National Assembly deputies discussed a range of measures to fulfill the set target of 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2017, which is thought to be a tough goal.

Ho Chi Minh City’s deputy Pham Phu Quoc held that the low GDP growth in 2016 was mostly due to the falling growth of agriculture and mining industry, adding that the development model basing on production factors such as capital, natural resources and labour has showed various weaknesses.

He suggested that the Government should continue removing obstacles for and allocate more resources and capital to key economic regions in order to boost local economic growth, thus helping to raise the country’s GDP.

At the same time, it is necessary to speed up the equitisation of and capital withdrawal from State-owned enterprises, while improving the effectiveness of State capital management and setting up an organisation to control State capital in centrally-run enterprises and major localities, he said.

Meanwhile, deputy Dinh Duy Vuot from Gia Lai province suggested that the Government should focus on efficiently managing existing resources in order to reach the set target of 6.7 percent GDP growth.

He stressed the need for faster disbursement of capital, noting that only 5.2 trillion VND of capital raised from Government bond has been allocated, equivalent to only 10.2 percent of the goal.

Vuot proposed the Government strictly reduces public spending, while cutting down the number of public servants, encouraging State agencies to become self-reliance in finance, and fastening the equitisation of State-owned enterprises and the divestment in State-owned enterprises to enrich the State budget and increase development investment.

At the session, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that two groups of major solutions have been mapped out to boost the country’s economic growth.

In the long term, the government will continue stabilising the macro-economy, speeding up economic restructuring and increasing labour productivity, expanding export markets and boosting domestic consumption, he said.

In the short term, urgent measures will be taken to remove difficulties for enterprises, bolster the development of sectors and areas, accelerate the disbursement of capital, Dung said, stressing the need to keep a close watch on the development of sectors for timely adjustments.-VNA