A number of National Assembly (NA) deputies emphasised the need to improve the quality of forecasting and statistics while discussing the socio-economic development plan and state budget in 2009 and the first few months of 2010.

Deputies Nguyen Van Tuyet and Ngo Van Minh, from Yen Bai and Quang Nam provinces respectively, shared this view with many other deputies at the NA session in Hanoi on May 27, citing large differences between the predicted and achieved figures for some major targets.

For example, the state revenues collected were almost 51.69 trillion VND higher than the estimated figure for just two months, equivalent to 3 percent of the country’s GDP or close to half of 2009’s overspend.

The deficit in last year’s balance of payments was 8.8 billion USD, while the amount reported at the 6 th NA meeting was just 1.9 billion USD.

This influenced the NA’s decisions on how to deal with the over-spend and when mapping out plans for the following year, they said.

Vo Tuan Nhan, from Quang Ngai province and other deputies said that the government’s report seemed to focus on economic issues but failed to make accurate assessments on social and environmental matters.

Deputies Do Thi Huyen Tam, from Bac Ninh, and Ngo Van Minh, from Quang Nam , pointed out that eight out of the 25 unmet targets were directly related to the social and environmental fields.

Worthy of note is that only 50 percent of the existing industrial and export-processing zones have certified waste treatment systems, 10 percent less than the figures for 2008.

The deputies asked the government to tackle this issue promptly as it will affect the country’s efforts to promote sustainable development and improve the public’s living conditions.

At the session, many deputies agreed that the poverty line that has been applied since 2006 is no longer suitable as the consumer price index (CPI) has kept growing, widening the gap between rich and poor.

They proposed that the government take drastic measures to control prices, adopt new poverty standards and combine poverty reduction programmes more efficiently to put an end to overlapping./.