Prime Minister chairs regular Government meeting in May

Photo caption — Regular Government meeting in May 2024

On the morning of June 1, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a regular Government meeting to assess the socio-economic situation in May and the first 5 months of 2024; the allocation and disbursement of public investment capital; the implementation of 3 national target programs; the assessment of the direction and administration of the Government and the Prime Minister; and key tasks in June and the coming time.

Attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Ministers Le Minh Khai and Tran Luu Quang; ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government agencies; representatives of a number of committees, commissions and agencies of the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly ; and leaders of a number of economic groups.

Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that in May, the world situation continued to be complicated and unpredictable, with fierce competition among major countries; conflicts escalated, USD and gold prices increased; crude oil, basic goods and transport service prices fluctuated strongly; monetary policies in many countries had unclear trends; climate change, natural disasters and epidemics had severe impacts, especially heat waves and droughts due to the El Nino phenomenon; potential risks of food insecurity in some countries and regions; although recovering, major economies and traditional markets of Vietnam still faced difficulties. Domestically, opportunities, advantages and difficulties and challenges were intertwined, but difficulties and challenges were greater, especially since our country is a developing country, the economy is in transition, the scale is still modest, openness is high, and resilience is limited.

According to the Prime Minister, thanks to the drastic participation of the entire political system under the leadership of the Central Committee, directly and regularly led by the Politburo and the Secretariat, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the socio-economic situation in May continued to trend positively, achieving better results than in April, and overall the first five months were better than the same period in most areas.

Growth is promoted in all three sectors: industry, agriculture, and services; the macro economy is stable, inflation is controlled, and major balances are ensured. In particular, proactive plans are in place to ensure electricity supply during hot weather; strategic infrastructure projects for transportation and energy are promoted, especially the 500 kV power transmission line project, circuit 3, expected to be completed by the end of June.

The fields of culture, society, institution building, anti-corruption, anti-negativity, national defense, security, and foreign affairs have been promoted; people's lives have been improved; Vietnam's prestige and international position have continued to be raised.

The Prime Minister said that, in addition to the basic results achieved, we frankly admit that there are still limitations, inadequacies, difficulties and challenges, such as: inflationary pressure, high exchange rates; real estate market, difficult access to credit; untimely policy responses in some places; lack of strict discipline; avoidance, shirking, fear of responsibility; complicated developments in food poisoning, fires, and crimes...

The Prime Minister requested the delegates to discuss and assess the situation, the good and bad aspects, the causes and lessons learned; the direction and management work; the limitations that need to be focused on overcoming; and to propose good, creative, innovative and effective ways of doing things. At the same time, propose tasks for June and the coming time; mechanisms, policies, solutions, especially monetary and fiscal policies... In particular, the Government members clarified and proposed specific solutions to promptly overcome the limitations, shortcomings and weaknesses that the National Assembly delegates mentioned at the 7th Session.

At the meeting, the Government assessed that the socio-economic situation in May continued to recover positively and was better than in April; in general, the first 5 months of 2024 achieved better results than the same period in 2023 in most areas.

The macro economy is basically stable, core inflation is under control, major balances are guaranteed. The average consumer price index (CPI) in the first 5 months increased by 4.03% over the same period. The state budget revenue in the first 5 months is estimated to reach 52.8% of the yearly estimate, up 14.8% over the same period. The total import-export turnover of goods in May increased by 9.1% over the previous month, and in the first 5 months it increased by 16.6% over the same period; the trade surplus was 8.01 billion USD. The total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in the first 5 months reached more than 11 billion USD, up 2% over the same period.

The industrial, agricultural and service sectors continued to change positively. The index of industrial production (IIP) in May is estimated to increase by 3.9% compared to the previous month and by 8.9% over the same period. Agricultural production is stable, the export turnover of coffee, rice, vegetables and fruits increased compared to the same period, national food security is guaranteed. Tourism recovered strongly, in May, international visitors reached nearly 7.6 million, a total increase of 64.9% over the same period in 5 months. Many international organizations continue to positively assess and forecast optimistically about Vietnam's economic growth in 2024.

Social security work has been effectively implemented. Employment and livelihoods for people continue to be focused on and promoted. People's lives continue to be improved. Many unique cultural and artistic activities are organized. The education sector actively prepares for the high school graduation exam and university and college admissions in 2024. Medical work and public health care are focused on; proactively preventing epidemics and infectious diseases common in the hot season.

The work of building and perfecting institutions, administrative reform, improving the business environment, and national digital transformation has been strongly promoted. Focusing on directing and perfecting documents and reports, submitting them to the 9th Central Conference of the 13th tenure, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and serving the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly to ensure quality and timeliness; national defense and security are consolidated; national independence and sovereignty are maintained; social order and safety are guaranteed.

As of May 31, ministries, central and local agencies have allocated and assigned detailed capital investment plans for 2024 of over VND 634.6 trillion, reaching 95.6% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister; estimated payment of over VND 148.2 trillion, reaching 22.34% of the plan, equivalent to the same period in 2023. However, there are 33 ministries, central agencies and 29 localities with investment capital disbursement rates below the national average, 4 ministries and central agencies have not yet disbursed...

The Government believes that, in addition to the basic achievements, our country is facing great difficulties and challenges. Inflationary pressure and exchange rates tend to increase. The financial and monetary markets still have potential risks; access to capital for businesses is still difficult; the bad debt ratio is high; gold market management is still inadequate. Industrial production recovery is still slow, in some key localities, growth is low or decreasing compared to the same period. The real estate market has problems that are slowly being overcome...

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