Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc underscored the determination to accomplish all goals set for 2019, striving for a GDP growth of 6.8 percent and reining in inflation under 4 percent at the Government’s monthly meeting held in Hanoi on May 31.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the Government’s monthly meeting

The Government convened its May meeting right after the National Assembly concluded its plenary session discussing socio-economic and State budget performance.

The leader reminded the cabinet members of unpredicted external risks and challenges, saying that inflation pressures remain visible so CPI would be possible to surpass 4 percent in the absence of smooth coordination of policies and communications activities.

For dealing with external risks, he tasked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue keeping a close watch on the trade tension between the US and China and promptly work out appropriate solutions and scenarios, including measures to diversify overseas markets and develop the domestic market.

Competent agencies and related ministries should pay attention to developing technologies, and inviting big tech companies in other countries to invest in Vietnam, he suggested.

The State Bank of Vietnam needs to continue monitoring, assessing and forecasting impacts that the global finance and monetary markets may exert on local forex and deposit interest rates so to take timely solutions, while continuing raising the national reserves to be well prepared for external shocks.

Emphasizing the need to ensure the macro-economic stability, the PM asked competent agencies to not increase public service prices altogether, step up communications, and supervise price fixing, in order to ensure inflation is controlled to the set target. 

He asked the cabinet members to continue analyzing the multilayer impacts of power and petroleum hikes as well as assessing the power charge calculation methods to make it more suitable.

The Finance Ministry and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam are required to continue following developments in the stock market and investment capital flows channeled via the market to manage risks and capital drain.

Ministries, sectors and localities need to proactively apply Industry 4.0 achievements in their work, and speed up the building of e-government, he said.

The leader stressed the need to improve the quality of institutions and policies, saying unnecessary business conditions must be cut to the set progress.

He asked related ministries and agencies to work together to ensure the quality of the upcoming exams, and fight the African swine fever.

At the meeting, the PM gave instructions on preparations for the question-and-answer session by cabinet members at the National Assembly, and others.

Reports delivered at the meeting show the macro-economy continued its stability over the past five months, with CPI expanding 2.74 percent on year (the lowest in the recent three years). Total goods sale and service turnover rose 11.6 percent. More than 7.3 million foreign tourists visited the country, a rise of 8.8 percent on year.

FDI disbursement reached 7.3 billion USD, a rise of 7.8 percent from the same time last year. Newly registered FDI and new capital added to existing FDI projects hit 9 billion USD, a surge of 27 percent.

The country earned an export value of 100 billion USD, a rise of 6.7 percent. Nearly 54,000 new businesses were founded, showing a 3.2 percent rise in number and a 29.6 percent soar in registered capital, and close to 20,000 businesses resumed their operation, surging by 48 percent.