Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung laid stress on controlling inflation at a
single digit as one of urgent tasks to be drastically addressed to help
the country maintain a reasonable growth of around 6 percent for the
whole year.
Chairing the Government’s January
meeting in Hanoi on Feb. 4, the Government chief continued urging
ministries and localities to work harder to stablise the macro economy
and implement policies on social welfare, security and defence.
To achieve these goals, the Government leader urged the State Bank to
continue carrying out a flexible monetary policy to ensure the
liquidity of the banking system while handling banks with weak
performance, gradually reducing interest rates and keeping foreign
exchange rate stable.
The prices of coal, electricity and petroleum will be regulated in line with market prices and set roadmap, he said.
According to the PM, ministries and localities should prioritise
agricultural and seafood production to maximise the country’s advantages
along with removing difficulties for industrial production and
restructuring public investment.
They need to
effectively implement target programmes on poverty reduction, especially
in areas inhabited by ethnic minority people as well as vocational
training and epidemic control programmes, pay attention to speeding up
Party building work, administrative reform and corruption prevention,
personnel work, and safeguarding security and defence.
PM Dung noted positive socio-economic changes recorded in January
when the entire country had a long Lunar New Year holiday, mentioning a
sufficient supply of commodities, stable prices of essential goods,
secured security and defence, and a decrease in traffic accidents.
However, the Prime Minister pointed to problems arisen during the
reviewed month, including low growths in industrial production, exports
and investment.
According to Cabinet members, to
fulfil socio-economic development tasks for 2012, the ministries and
localities should focus on solving difficulties for businesses,
especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, and increasing their
access to capital sources.
They voiced concerns
about traffic safety, the roadmap of regulating petrol prices under
market rules, nomadic life of ethnic minority people, vocational
training and job generation for young rural people, health care services
at the grassroots level, sustainable poverty reduction and security and
order.
In January, Consumer Price Index (CPI)
grew 1 percent, the lowest level recorded during Tet in the past ten
years. Security and social order were maintained during the time.
However, freezing cold in the first month of 2012 affected agricultural
production in the northern region.
At the meeting,
Cabinet members discussed a draft report summing up the implementation
of the 1992 Constitution, and revisions to some articles of the Tax Law
and the Law on Natural Minerals./.
