Cabinet meeting reviews socio-economic situation in first two months

Hanoi (VNA) – The Government convened its regular meeting, the first sitting in the Lunar New Year, in Hanoi on March 1 chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Speaking at the meeting, PM Phuc reviewed the Tet holiday, which lasted from February 14-20, lauding efforts of agencies and sectors to ensure a warm festival for people nationwide.

The leader expressed his delight at seeing business activities promptly resuming after the festival.

Regarding the country’s development in February, the PM said despite the week-long holiday, the macro economy, as well as interest and foreign exchange rates remained stable.

February’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.73 percent, with food and catering services up 1.53 percent. The index in the first two months of this year rose by 2.9 percent year-on-year.

The leader also commented on exports in the month, which stood at some 13.4 billion USD, raising the total export value in the two months to 33.6 billion USD, up nearly 23 percent year-on-year.

He cited a trade surplus of 1.08 billion USD as a highlight of the national economy in February.

The PM also recognised achievements in various fields from foreign direct investment disbursement, business establishment, social welfare and rural development to defence-security.

He mentioned unpredictable developments in the region and the world and pointed out shortcomings in the domestic socio-economic situation, including low investment from State budget.

He warned fluctuations in global prices and asked ministries and departments to maximise efforts to curb inflation and ensure macro-economic stability. 

Inflation pressure this year could be high due to tens of billions of USD in foreign investment being poured into the country. Furthermore, Vietnam is one of the 10 biggest recipients of remittances in the world with 13 billion USD per year, which will make curbing inflation hard, he noted.

Focusing on business production development to create a healthier environment remains a major requirement for all departments and sectors, the PM stressed.

He urged economic restructuring, increasing labour productivity, attracting more foreign investment, improving domestic production efficiency and better Government policies in socio-economic management in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. 

The PM called for bottlenecks in production for small-and medium-sized enterprises to be removed to drive 2018’s growth.

At the meeting, cabinet members discussed the draft law revising and supplementing some articles of the Law on Special Amnesty and bills on cultivation, animal husbandry, urban development management and population.-VNA