Prime Minister chairs meeting to discuss solutions to promote economic growth

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized that to achieve the annual growth target of 6.7%, the second half of the year must reach a growth rate of 7.42%.

On the morning of August 12, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a meeting to discuss solutions to promote economic growth in the remaining months of 2017.

Also attending were Deputy Prime Ministers, leaders of ministries, branches, and state-owned corporations and groups.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the Government Standing Committee meeting to discuss solutions to promote growth in 2017. Photo: VNA

Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized that to achieve the annual growth target of 6.7%, the second half of the year must reach a growth rate of 7.42%.

This is an important political task of the Government, ministries, branches, localities, corporations and general companies.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stated that the meeting aimed to focus on analyzing the components of GDP and thereby propose solutions to promote economic growth to reach the target of 6.7% for the whole year.

Pointing out that the growth rate of many industries and sectors is still low, the head of the Government requested leaders of ministries, sectors and corporations to specifically report data and situations and propose specific solutions for their sectors.

Of which, agriculture grew slowly in the first half of the year, reaching only 2.65% while the target set for the whole year is 3.05%. To achieve this target, the second half of the year must grow 3.3%.

The industrial and construction sectors grew slowly and have not yet shown themselves to be the main growth drivers of GDP as in previous years.

With an increase of 5.81% in the first half of the year, if we want the whole year to reach 7.91%, the second half of the year must reach a very high increase of 9.2%.

The manufacturing and processing industry grew by 10.52% in the first half of the year. To achieve the planned target of 13%, the second half of the year must grow by 14%.

The electricity production and distribution industry grew by 8% in the first half of the year, so the Prime Minister said it was a difficult question for the electricity industry to achieve 11% growth for the whole year.

Regarding corporations and general companies, the Prime Minister highly appreciated the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group for striving to exceed production and business targets.

With the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, the Prime Minister requested a report on solutions to complete the targets, especially coal consumption, especially that 1 million tons of coal consumed will contribute 0.17% of GDP.

The construction industry has only grown by 8.5% in the first 6 months, while the target for the whole year is 10.5%. The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to compile specific statistics on this industry, answering the question of why the growth at the beginning of the year was so low. Because in reality, the real estate market is extremely vibrant. Construction projects are developing everywhere, not only in the State sector but also in many giant projects of corporations, private enterprises, and FDI.

To contribute to promoting investment and growth, the Prime Minister also requested the State Bank to have a plan and roadmap to ensure credit growth for the whole year of about 21-22%.

Along with that is ensuring credit quality, restructuring credit institutions, handling bad debts, strictly managing real estate credit and controlling inflation. Disbursement must be ensured early and not jerky.

Regarding investment capital disbursement, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries to report on the disbursement situation, including ODA capital, and propose solutions to ensure that the total social investment reaches 34-34% of GDP. Because if this target is achieved, it will contribute greatly to GDP.

Recalling that this year is the year of cost reduction for businesses, the Prime Minister requested ministries and branches to review and reduce costs for businesses, including BOT fees. Currently, bank interest rates are being reduced by 0.5%/year or more.

Regarding trade, faced with the reality of a large trade deficit of over 3 billion USD, the Prime Minister asked the Ministries to report solutions to promote exports and better control the trade deficit.

According to a report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first half of the year, the service sector achieved the highest growth rate since 2012, contributing 2.59 percentage points to GDP.

In which, the industries with large proportions all grew impressively such as wholesale and retail, accommodation and food services, financial activities, banking and insurance, and real estate business.

Meanwhile, the mining industry decreased sharply. The growth of the entire industry was mainly due to the processing and manufacturing industry./.

According to VOV