Government calls for coordinated efforts to control inflation

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a resolution at the June regular cabinet meeting that underlines the tighter controls on the monetary policy and credit growth to increase more investment in exports, agriculture, rural development and small and medium-sized enterprises while reducing the growth of outstanding credit debts for the non-production, real estate and securities sectors.

Under the resolution, all sectors need effective solutions to increase the amount of budget revenues, surpass the budget collection target for this year by 7-8 percent and save 10 percent of regular spending for social welfare as an effective way of reducing State budget overspending and public investment spending.

It is essential to control market prices, stabilise supply and demand for essential commodities and services, adjust the prices of electricity, petrol, oil and coal based on market mechanism to curb inflation and ensure social welfare.

All ministries, sectors and localities should propose measures for tax exemption and reduction to help enterprises and individuals iron out snags in production and business operations and have easier access to capita resources for effective projects, the resolution says.

The Government also underscored the need to boost exports, strictly control imports and pool all resources for agricultural production, rural development and food security to improve farmers’ living standards.

The focus should be on effectively implementing social welfare policies, national target programmes for disadvantaged areas, and incentive policies for ethnic minority, poor and underprivileged people.

The resolution stresses the importance of adjusting minimum wages for workers and building houses for workers in industrial parks, for low-income earners in urban areas and for poor people living in natural disaster prone areas.

To reach a public consensus on Party and State policies and guidelines to control inflation, stabilise the macroeconomy and ensure social welfare, it is necessary to promote the dissemination of information and communication activities, raise media agencies’ responsibility and dully punish law-breaking cases.

Ministries, agencies and localities need to work closely together to ensure national security and defence, maintain social safety and order, promote external relations and deal with the East Sea related issues to defend national sovereignty, the resolution says.