Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested ministries, sectors, and localities to strive their best to achieve the set growth rate of over 7% for 2024, while presiding over a regular Cabinet meeting connected online with the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities on October 7.
Analysing the situation and upcoming tasks, Chinh required authorities of all levels, sectors, and localities to keep a close watch on international and domestic developments in order to have appropriate policy response and timely, flexible, and effective solutions, and promptly report any issues that go beyond their power.
To achieve the set targets, the Government leader pointed to key tasks and solutions, including promoting growth, controlling inflation, ensuring major balances, and managing public debt, government debt, foreign debt, and budget deficit.
Authorities must focus on addressing the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, stabilising people's lives, promoting the recovery of production and business, restoring essential infrastructure, and controlling supply and prices of goods, he said, ordering priority to promoting growth associated with maintaining macroeconomic stability, managing the monetary policy in a proactive, flexible, timely, and effective way, and coordinating it concertedly, harmoniously, and closely with the fiscal policy and other macroeconomic ones.
The PM directed the State Bank of Vietnam to manage and maintain the exchange rate stability, strive to reduce lending interest rates, increase access to credit, and aim for a year-on-year credit growth rate of about 15%, while controlling the risks of bad debts.
The Ministry of Finance was required to work towards increasing state budget revenue and saving on expenditures, and focus spending on development, while effectively implementing policies for tax and fee payment extension and reduction, and aiming to exceed revenue targets by at least 10% for the entire year.
Chinh asked the ministry to urgently research and propose the issuance of an additional 100 trillion VND (4.02 billion USD) for investment in national strategic infrastructure projects; maintain market and price stability; and prepare carefully for, assess impacts of, and develop appropriate plans for price adjustments of state-managed commodities such as electricity and healthcare services.
The Government head also directed ministries, sectors, and localities to focus on accelerating and creating breakthroughs in public investment disbursement, and strive for a disbursement rate of at least 95%.
Emphasising the need to revitalise traditional growth drivers and strongly promote new ones, Chinh noted the importance of enhancing public-private partnerships; attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) with high technology and added value; efficiently exploiting large, traditional markets while promoting new ones; supporting businesses in marketing and trade promotion; and expanding cashless payments across the country.
Priority should be given to institution and law perfection, administrative reform, and national digital transformation, he highlighted.
Ministries and sectors must listen to the opinions and recommendations from the people, businesses, and international organisations so as to have timely solutions and organise implementation in a rational and effective manner, he noted, asking for the strengthening of national defence and security, the intensification of the fight against corruption and other negative phenomena, and the improvement of international integration.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, so far this year, the Government has focused on implementing three strategic breakthroughs in terms of institutions, human resources, and infrastructure, with particular emphasis on reviewing and perfecting institutions, laws, mechanisms, and policies.
Attention has also been paid to promoting science and technology, start-up, innovation, and national digital transformation; reducing and simplifying administrative procedures; removing difficulties for production and business; and ensuring social security and the improvement of people’s lives.
As a result, the overall socio-economic situation in September, the third quarter, and the first nine months of 2024 continued to show positive recovery trends, with the performance one month better than the previous one and one quarter higher than the last.
The country's GDP growth increased by 7.4% in the third quarter, and 6.82% in the first nine months of 2024. Macro-economic stability was maintained, inflation kept under control, and major balances ensured./.
