Prime Minister chairs regular Government meeting in May

On the morning of June 1, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a regular Government meeting to assess the socio-economic situation in May and the first 5 months of 2024; the allocation and disbursement of public investment capital; the implementation of 3 national target programs; assessment of the direction and administration of the Government and the Prime Minister; key tasks in June and the coming time.

Attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Ministers Le Minh Khai and Tran Luu Quang; ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government agencies; representatives of a number of committees, commissions and agencies of the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly; and leaders of a number of economic groups.

Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that in May, the world situation continued to be complicated and unpredictable, with fierce competition among major countries; conflicts escalated, USD and gold prices increased; crude oil, basic goods and transportation services prices fluctuated strongly; monetary policies in many countries had unclear trends; climate change, natural disasters and epidemics had severe impacts, especially heat waves and droughts due to the El Nino phenomenon; potential food insecurity risks in some countries and regions; although recovering, major economies and traditional markets of Vietnam still faced difficulties. Domestically, opportunities, advantages and difficulties and challenges were intertwined, but difficulties and challenges were greater, especially since our country is a developing country, the economy is in transition, the scale is still modest, openness is high, and resilience is limited.

According to the Prime Minister, thanks to the drastic participation of the entire political system under the leadership of the Central Committee, directly and regularly led by the Politburo and the Secretariat, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the socio-economic situation in May continued to trend positively, achieving better results than in April, and overall the first 5 months were better than the same period in most areas.

Growth is promoted in all three sectors: industry, agriculture, and services; the macro economy is stable, inflation is controlled, and major balances are ensured. In particular, proactive plans are in place to ensure electricity supply during hot weather; strategic infrastructure projects for transportation and energy are promoted, especially the 500kV power transmission line project, circuit 3, expected to be completed by the end of June.

The fields of culture, society, institution building, anti-corruption, anti-negativity, national defense, security, and foreign affairs have been promoted; people's lives have been improved; Vietnam's prestige and international position have continued to be raised.

The Prime Minister said that, in addition to the basic results achieved, we frankly acknowledge that there are still limitations, shortcomings, difficulties and challenges, such as: inflationary pressure, high exchange rates; real estate market, difficult access to credit; policy responses in some places are not timely; discipline and order are not strict; there is still a situation of avoidance, pushing, fear of responsibility; the situation of food poisoning, explosions, and crimes is complicated...

The Prime Minister requested the delegates to discuss and assess the situation, the positive and negative aspects, the causes and lessons learned; the direction and management work; the limitations that need to be focused on overcoming; and to propose good, creative, innovative and effective ways of doing things. At the same time, propose tasks for June and the coming time; mechanisms, policies, solutions, especially monetary and fiscal policies... In particular, the Government members clarified and proposed specific solutions to promptly overcome the limitations, shortcomings and weaknesses that the National Assembly delegates mentioned at the 7th Session.

At the meeting, the Government assessed that the socio-economic situation in May continued to recover positively and was better than in April; in general, the first 5 months of 2024 achieved better results than the same period in 2023 in most areas.

The macro economy is basically stable, inflation is basically under control, major balances are guaranteed. The average consumer price index (CPI) in the first 5 months increased by 4.03% over the same period. The state budget revenue in the first 5 months is estimated to reach 52.8% of the yearly estimate, up 14.8% over the same period. The total import-export turnover of goods in May increased by 9.1% over the previous month, and in the first 5 months it increased by 16.6% over the same period; trade surplus was 8.01 billion USD. The total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in the first 5 months reached more than 11 billion USD, up 2% over the same period.

The industrial, agricultural and service sectors continued to change positively. The index of industrial production (IIP) in May is estimated to increase by 3.9% compared to the previous month and by 8.9% compared to the same period last year. Agricultural production is stable, the export turnover of coffee, rice, vegetables and fruits increased compared to the same period last year, and national food security is ensured. Tourism has recovered strongly, with nearly 7.6 million international visitors in May, an increase of 64.9% over the same period in the first 5 months. Many international organizations continue to positively assess and forecast Vietnam's economic growth in 2024.

Social security work has been effectively implemented. Employment and livelihoods for people continue to be focused on and promoted. People's lives continue to be improved. Many unique cultural and artistic activities are organized. The education sector is actively preparing for the high school graduation exam and university and college admissions in 2024. Medical work and public health care are focused on; proactively preventing epidemics and common infectious diseases during the hot season.

The work of building and perfecting institutions, administrative reform, improving the business environment, and national digital transformation has been strongly promoted. Focusing on directing and perfecting documents and reports, submitting them to the 9th Central Conference of the 13th tenure, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and serving the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly, ensuring quality and timeliness; national defense and security are consolidated; national independence and sovereignty are maintained; social order and safety are ensured.

As of May 31, ministries, central and local agencies have allocated and assigned detailed capital investment plans for 2024 of over VND 634.6 trillion, reaching 95.6% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister; estimated payment of over VND 148.2 trillion, reaching 22.34% of the plan, equivalent to the same period in 2023. However, there are 33 ministries, central agencies and 29 localities with investment capital disbursement rates below the national average, 4 ministries and central agencies have not yet disbursed...

The Government believes that, in addition to the basic achievements, our country is facing great difficulties and challenges. Inflationary pressure and exchange rates tend to increase. The financial and monetary markets still have potential risks; businesses have difficulty accessing capital; the bad debt ratio is high; gold market management is still inadequate. Industrial production is recovering slowly, in some key localities, growth is low or decreasing compared to the same period. The real estate market has problems that are slowly being overcome...