Save 680,000 billion to reform wages

On the morning of May 20, speaking at the opening session of the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai reported on the additional assessment of the results of socio-economic development and state budget implementation in 2023, and the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and state budget in the first months of 2024.

Economic scale of 430 billion USD, is a group of countries with high average

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, in 2023, despite many difficulties, GDP will increase by 5.05% (previously reported at 5%). The size of the economy will reach 430 billion USD, entering the group of upper middle-income countries.

Inflation was controlled at 3.25%, the money and foreign exchange markets were basically stable, and interest rates decreased. State budget revenue reached over 1.75 million billion VND, exceeding 8.2% and increasing 133,400 billion VND compared to the estimate.

In that context, many policies and solutions have been proposed such as exemption, reduction, and extension of taxes, fees, charges, and land rents of nearly VND 191,500 billion.

Budget deficit is about 3.5% of GDP, public debt is about 37% of GDP, government debt is about 34% of GDP, much lower than the ceiling and warning threshold.By the end of 2023, about 680,000 billion VND has been set aside to implement the new wage policy.

Total import-export turnover reached 681 billion USD; trade surplus 28.3 billion USD.

FDI attraction reached 39.4 billion USD, realized FDI reached 23.2 billion USD, up 3.5%, the highest ever.

Although the results achieved are "remarkable", the Deputy Prime Minister assessed that there are still limitations and difficulties.

Economic growth has not yet reached the set target. Production and business activities and credit access still face many difficulties.

The rate of labor productivity growth has not met requirements. Investment and business procedures are still cumbersome. Discipline and order compliance of a number of officials and civil servants is not strict.

In the context of 2024 continuing to face many complex, unpredictable developments with potential risks, international organizations assess Vietnam's growth prospects. The socio-economic situation in the first months of the year has changed positively, achieving many good results.

Of which, GDP in the first quarter increased by 5.66%, the highest level in the 2020 - 2023 period, the average CPI in the first 4 months increased by 3.93%. Budget revenue reached 43.1% of the estimate, up 10.1%; export turnover increased by 15%; trade surplus was 8.4 billion USD.

Implemented FDI reached 6.28 billion USD, up 7.4%, the highest in the past 5 years. Many large corporations have committed to investing in Vietnam in the electronics, chip, semiconductor, renewable energy industries, etc.

Many long-standing backlogs are being cleared

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, many outstanding and long-standing issues and projects have been focused on and achieved positive results. In particular, documents and conditions have been prepared to consider and approve the policy of compulsory transfer of weak banks, ensuring system safety.

It is expected that the valuation of the three mandatory purchasing banks will be completed and submitted to competent authorities for approval of the mandatory transfer plan in May 2024, with the mandatory transfer completed in 2024.

However, the Government report acknowledged that the pressure to direct and manage the macro economy is still high, especially in controlling inflation, managing interest rates and exchange rates; credit growth is still low, and world and domestic gold prices fluctuate strongly.

Production and business activities of enterprises and people are facing many difficulties. The real estate market is recovering slowly, and the progress of implementing the 120,000 billion VND social housing loan package has not met requirements.

Pointing out the cause, the Deputy Prime Minister said that under pressure from the outside, the long-standing internal weaknesses and shortcomings of the economy have become more evident. These include weak real estate, corporate bond, securities, and banking markets. Some officials and civil servants are not proactive and decisive, and still have a mentality of avoidance, shirking responsibility, and fear of responsibility...

Regarding solutions, the Deputy Prime Minister said that priority will be given to promoting growth associated with macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation and ensuring major balances. Renewing growth drivers, continuing to exempt and extend taxes and fees, saving expenses, managing prices of state-managed goods, etc.

Continue to innovate and improve the quality of legal document drafting, promote decentralization, and end the fear of making mistakes, avoiding and shirking responsibility.

Continue to simplify administrative procedures, accelerate digitalization, substantially restructure the economy associated with growth model innovation, and improve productivity...

Continue restructuring credit institutions in conjunction with bad debt handling, focusing on the compulsory transfer of weak banks. Promote restructuring of industries, especially processing and manufacturing industries. Speed ​​up the progress of important national and inter-regional transport infrastructure projects...