The Prime Minister has issued a directive urging ministries, sectors, local authorities and State-owned corporations to build socio-economic development plans and State budget estimates for 2014 with a view to achieving a GDP growth rate of 6 percent.

Directive 13/CT-TTg issued on June 25 said the overall target for 2014 is to boost economic development while maintaining macroeconomic stability; implement strong economic restructuring and renovation of economic growth model; ensure social security and welfare and improve people’s living standards; expand and increase efficiency of external activities and international integration; and strengthen national defence and ensure political security and social order and safety.

The government’s head requires that all domestic and foreign resources should be mobilized for economic development; monetary policy should focusing on stabilising the Vietnamese currency, supplying sufficient capital to the economy, helping curb inflation at around 7 percent; bad debt must be gradually reduced;

Regarding social security, the PM instructs relevant ministries, sectors and local governments to implement policies and mechanisms to create new jobs while policies and programmes aiming to reducing poverty should be further strengthened, especially in poor, remote and mountainous regions.

He also urges more efforts to improve preventive medicine to prevent epidemic diseases, and to ease the overloading in hospitals.

As for budgetary estimates, the PM stresses the policy of practising thrift and fighting wastefulness.-VNA