Macro-economic stability needed for sustainable development: PM

Hanoi (VNA) – The Government’s point of view in steering socio-economic affairs is to persistently pursue the goal of macro-economic stability to create foundations for sustainable development while synchronously implementing measures to boost growth, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Addressing the Government’s regular meeting on June 2, the PM confirmed that “the Government takes the political responsibility for fulfilling 2016’s socio-economic development targets before the Party, State and people”.

To achieve the goals, the Government leader asked the administration from the central to local levels to make more efforts to serve the nation’s development.

A report presented by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung showed that thanks to timely guidelines from the Government, the national economy recorded satisfactory signals, especially for the monetary index with an increase of 4.52 percent year-on-year.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursed in the country in the period hit 5.8 billion USD, an annual rise of 17.2 percent, while the total FDI registered was estimated to reach 10.6 billion USD, nearly 2.4 times higher than that reported in the same period last year.

Around 44,740 new enterprises were established in the reviewed period, a year-on-year increase of 24.1 percent.

The macroeconomy has been basically stablised and the inflation rate was curbed, the report said.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation index in the period increased 1.59 percent and 1.78 percent respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Regarding socio-economic measures, the PM requested Cabinet members to closely control prices and not to be subjective in curbing inflation. Ministries should coordinate effectively in managing prices as well as implementing fiscal and monetary policies.

He also asked for more efforts to mobilise resources from the public to serve development goals, improve the business and investment environment and speed up administrative reform.

The leader asked ministries, sectors, economic groups and localities to design detailed plans to speed up equitisation of State-owned enterprises and divestment from non-core business and report the plans back to him in June.

He also ordered the stepping up of disbursement of State budget-sourced and ODA capital to enable investors to execute their projects.

The PM required the State Bank of Vietnam to build a plan to cut the lending interest rate as part of efforts to support local production and business operation.

Reiterating the importance of the startup movement in young people, PM Phuc assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other functional agencies to build complete mechanisms and policies on startups and submit them to the Government in July.

Regarding farming production, he asked for the building and deployment of a comprehensive agriculture restructuring programme while highlighting “the new-style rural area construction programme as a new revolution in Vietnam” that needs various resources to succeed.

On social security, PM Phuc stressed the need to promptly provide assistance for residents in areas hit by natural disasters, droughts and saltwater intrusion, implement social housing programmes efficiently, prevent injuries and accidents for children, and reduce the unemployment rate, among others.

He ordered relevant agencies to strictly monitor sources that caused environmental pollution, calling on them to be proactive in protecting the ecosystem and stringently punish individuals and organisations violating environmental protection.

The Government leader showed his worries about wasteful public spending, demanding the Ministry of Finance screen the management and use of public assets, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and resolutely cut unnecessary expenditures, in particular those paid for meetings and overseas trips.

He asked for the effective settlement of petitions and denunciations and strict punishments for those committing actions against on-duty officers and sparking social disorder.

The Government’s May meeting was held on June 1-2. It focused on institution building on June 1.-VNA