Proposal to reserve 1 trillion in bank balance to support unemployed people

Head of the HCM City Enterprise Management Innovation Board Tran Anh Tuan proposed to allocate 1 quadrillion VND from the budget currently deposited in the bank to support workers.

The national budget currently has more than 1 quadrillion VND in surplus as of May 2023. Discussing the socio-economic situation this morning, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan said that this figure shows a huge surplus of capital that cannot be spent.

"We can flexibly arrange and immediately support workers and unemployed people; or build houses for rent in export processing zones, industrial parks and provide training and vocational training for workers," Mr. Tuan proposed.

This delegate said that in the context of a very difficult economy, these solutions will help put unused capital into stimulating demand and activating the economy.

Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Head of the HCM City Business Management Innovation Board, spoke at the discussion on socio-economics on May 31. Photo: Hoang Phong

Responding to VnExpress on May 25, Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc said the large budget surplus is mainly due to the bottleneck in disbursement of public investment capital. Currently, this amount is deposited at the State Bank with an interest rate of 0.8% per year. Mr. Phoc said that the law must be amended, possibly using one law to amend many laws, including the Public Investment Law, to overcome this situation.

The situation of workers being laid off, having their working hours reduced, and losing their jobs due to businesses reducing orders and narrowing production has also been recorded by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

According to the agency's report, in the first quarter of this year, the number of workers on leave was nearly 294,000, a decrease of 2,000 people compared to the end of 2022, and the majority were in foreign-invested enterprises (83%).

However, the number of unemployed workers was 149,000, an increase of 39,000 compared to the previous quarter, concentrated in the textile and garment industry (19%); leather and footwear (18%), and electronic components and products manufacturing (17%). Unemployed workers and those with reduced working hours were concentrated in some provinces with many industrial parks and export processing zones such as Dong Nai with 32,600 workers, Binh Duong with 21,700 workers, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang with 14,000 and 7,700 workers, respectively.

The survey results conducted by the Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV) and VnExpress with more than 8,340 workers at the end of April showed that 31% of workers answered that they were unemployed. Finding new opportunities is very difficult in the current context.

Committee IV recommends that the Prime Minister immediately support businesses to maintain and restore production and business, thereby indirectly supporting workers. The Government can also consider preferential loans such as loans for businesses to pay salaries or train workers. In addition, to help workers return to the market smoothly, the central and local governments also need to support them with courses to improve their skills and foreign languages.

During the discussion session, National Assembly delegates were also concerned about the current difficult situation of enterprises . Mr. Hoang Duc Thang, Deputy Head of the Quang Tri delegation, said that domestic enterprises are facing the risk of dissolution, bankruptcy and acquisition.

The deputy head of the Quang Tri delegation cited the example of large Thai corporations owning many leading enterprises in fields from manufacturing to retail in Vietnam and earning billions of dollars from dividends. This, he said, makes the already weak manufacturing sector "very fragile".

Along with that, a series of tightened and unreasonable procedures in fire prevention and fighting, or car inspection congestion, and high interest rates are the blows that cause businesses to "knock out" right at home.

"The government needs to see clearly to immediately remove bottlenecks, because businesses are the backbone of the economy. If they develop, the country will prosper. If they weaken, the country will face difficulties," he commented.

Mr. Hoang Duc Thang, Deputy Head of the Quang Tri delegation, spoke at the socio-economic discussion session on May 31. Photo: Hoang Phong

Also mentioning high interest rates causing business capital flow to be "blocked", Ms. To Ai Vang, Deputy Head of the Soc Trang Province delegation, suggested that the State Bank needs to manage credit more flexibly, by assigning total credit room from the beginning of the year to banks and managing it based on a plan established by agreement between banks and customers.

"Monetary management needs to avoid a situation where the first half of the year accelerates, then the room runs out or is suddenly tightened at the end of the year, causing businesses to fail in their investment, production, and business plans," Ms. Ai Vang noted.

In addition, the monetary authority has a flexible and diverse lending mechanism, especially unsecured loan packages based on the effective operating time and cash flow of the enterprise. Commercial banks review all procedures and credit conditions, increase the ability of enterprises to access loans, speed up the disbursement of interest rate support packages, restructure debt repayment terms, and help enterprises reduce difficulties.

Mr. Tran Anh Tuan also suggested that banks should loosen lending procedures for businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones. For example, instead of requiring businesses to have collateral, they should consider the feasibility of the project to "better provide funds".

Mr. Hoang Duc Thang proposed that the Government immediately abolish unreasonable regulations and administrative procedures that are too restrictive for businesses. At the same time, the authorities need to minimize inspections and checks and unblock credit capital for the economy.

"Only by being decisive and creating a favorable environment for production and business can businesses recover and the country grow," he said.

Hoai Thu

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