Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the State Bank of Vietnam to press ahead with drastic action to keep inflation at a single digit figure and maintain an appropriate economic growth of 6 percent.

Maintaining economic growth at an appropriate rate will contribute to stabilising the macro economy and ensuring social welfare, Cabinet members said at their monthly meeting in Hanoi on March 31 and April 1 to review the country’s socio-economic performance in March and the first quarter of the year.

Concluding the meeting, PM Dung said positive signals in the country’s socio-economic development in the first quarter of this year showed that “we are on the right track.”

He cited a gradual decline in consumer price index, a rise of 23.6 percent in export value and the creation of jobs for 341,000 people, adding “the target of curbing the inflation rate to a single digit is possible.”

However, the government chief pointed out challenges and difficulties, noting a slowdown in GDP, and high input cost that has badly affected the processing and manufacturing industries.

He requested that the SBV must quickly solve bank-related issues such as clearing bad debts, ensuring liquidity, handling banks with weak performance and keeping interest rate stable.

At the meeting, ministries and agencies were asked to thoroughly practise thrift, fight waste and raise efficiency in investment, production and business.

They were requested to review tax and fee policies for matching with reality and well implement social welfare policies.

The synchronous implementation of traffic congestion and accident reduction solutions and information dissemination on the issue were also required.

At the meeting, the Cabinet member discussed the master plan on economic restructuring, a draft resolution to amend the National Assembly’s Resolution No.49/2010/QH12 on national key projects and programme, and the Vietnam Science-Technology Development Strategy.

They also gave opinions on the bill on prevention and combat terrorism and amendments and supplements to some articles of the Law on Science and Technology and the Law on Employment.

They heard supplementary reports on State budget fulfillment in 2011, State budget work in 2012 and State budget estimation in 2010.-VNA