Tardy public investment disbursement slows down growth: PM

Hanoi (VNA) – A driving force for short-term growth has lost due to the sluggish expansion of public investment, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said, demanding drastic actions to remove barriers hindering the disbursement of public investment.

Concluding the Government’s meeting in Hanoi on August 1, the PM described the slow disbursement of public investment as a “current weakness” as the disbursed capital in the last seven months accounted for just around 35 percent of this year’s target. Notably, the disbursed amount of foreign investment capital was even lower, at 14 percent, he said.

The government leader requested ministries, sectors and localities to pay special attention to overcoming this issue.

Pointing out other socio-economic problems, PM Phuc said the growth slowdown in the global economy and big countries has strongly affected Vietnam. Meanwhile, as the inflation pressure still exists, ministries, sectors and localities must stay alert, especially amidst political tensions in the world, unpredictable changes in global oil prices as well as the impacts of power prices and basic wage hikes, which may push up inflation, he noted.

PM Phuc asked for stronger efforts to deal with widespread droughts, uncontrollable diseases and an increase in serious traffic accidents, adding that it is also necessary to push ahead with fighting corruption, recovering stolen assets and combating trade frauds.

He emphasised the resolve to fulfill all targets set for 2019, including a GDP growth rate of 6.8 percent and an inflation rate of less than 4 percent.

Ministries, sectors and localities need to continue improving the investment and business climate, create a legal corridor for assisting businesses to promote the capacity of applying the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s achievements, and soon complete legal frameworks for developing the digital economy and sharing economy, along with managing crypto assets, crypto currency and financial technology.

They also have to keep a close watch on and forecast impacts of developments in the international financial – monetary markets, carry out timely solutions to keep exchange rates, interest rates and the forex market stable, while further raising the forex reserves so as to create a buffer against external shocks, the Government leader noted.-VNA