Ministry to evaluate impact of COVID-19 on businesses to identify support policies
Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Planning and
Investment (MPI) will prepare a report on the efficiency of existing and new
policies and support packages for businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to
determine the most suitable for application in the short and long terms, Minister
of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has said.
He explained that if economic policies are not strong
enough, then it will be difficult for the country’s economy to recover.
The minister asked relevant ministries and agencies to evaluate business
and production conditions to sketch an overall picture that allows for the easier
designing of policies for each sector and the re-building of growth scenarios.
Ministries and agencies were also asked to calculate
variables and build models taking impact factors into account so as to assist in preparing
support packages that are timely and sufficiently strong.
According to a report from the General Statistics
Office, COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on most socio-economic sectors but
in particular aviation, tourism, accommodation, and catering. Many companies in
these sectors have been forced to dissolve, have announced bankruptcy, or have halted
or narrowed operations, while their employees have had to accept pay cuts or
even terminations.
Some 17.6 million people have seen their salary cut
because of COVID-19.
The proportion of businesses registering to cease operations
rose 41.5 percent in the first seven months of this year, while the
unemployment rate has reached its highest level in a decade.
A number of measures to support small- and medium-sized
enterprises have been introduced, along with policies to help large companies overcome
difficulties in cash flow due to huge declines in revenue.
The ministry has already suggested that existing support
policies be extended to the end of December, but due to the complex developments
of the pandemic it will propose they are extended well into 2021, Dung said.
The minister also underlined the need to continue
extending payment times for a number of taxes in line with Government Decree No
41/2020/ND-CP to the end of the year.
According to MPI, it is crucial to extend the timeline
for implementing policies regarding the restructuring of debt repayment timeframes
and exemptions from and reductions to interest rates and fees while retaining
the debt classification of pandemic-hit borrowers under State Bank of Vietnam
Circular No 01/2020-TT-NHNN.
It is also necessary to extend support to customers
who have obligations to pay original debt and/or interest from January 23 to
December 31, 2020, while adjusting the circular to make it easier for
businesses to access the policies on offer./.