Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Tan Dung requested the cabinet members to pay special attention to controlling inflation at the monthly cabinet meeting on March 25. 

    Eight groups of measures, including tightening monetary policy, strengthening market price management, saving public expenses, boosting exports, controlling trade surplus and providing continued support to the poor, should be strictly followed, the PM stressed. 

    PM Dung also asked relevant ministries and sectors to review investment projects in order to reject the ineffective ones and economise public spending in an effort to reduce budget deficit. 

    According to the PM, there are signs of slow economic growth due to a high rate of inflation, large trade deficit and the stock market plunge, which are threatening the economy and affecting production and citizens’ life. 

    In the year’s first quarter, Vietnam posted a GDP growth rate of 7.4 percent, 0.3 percent lower than the figure of the same period last year. Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) for the first three months increased 9.19 percent. 

    During the period, the country earned 13 billion USD from export, however, spending an estimated 20.39 billion USD on import. 

    At the meeting, the cabinet members also pointed out existing shortcomings in land administration, state budget allocation and administrative management, resulting in poor macroeconomic operation

Source: Source: Vietnam News Agency