Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment: The real economy situation exposed via positive growth

The task of socio-economic development in the second half of the year is still under a lot of pressure. Photo: ST

In response to the press about solutions to achieve economic growth in the first six months of the year at the June Government's regular press conference on the afternoon of July 4, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said these positive results have reflected the reality of the whole economy. This figure also shows that Vietnam's economy is bouncing back.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong, from 2021, the viewpoints, policies and guidelines of the Party and Government in the 2022 socio-economic development plan have been identified with the following goals: 2022 is the year of recovery which is considered an important foundation year for us to go on the right track of sustainable socio-economic development.

“This result is the sum total of the solutions proposed in the plan from last year. These solutions have been concretized by a series of resolutions of the Government such as: Resolution 01, Resolution 02, Resolution 11, and a series of documents directing the administration of the Government and the Prime Minister,” the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment said.

Explaining the causes of growth, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong said that this was possible thanks to the efforts of all levels and sectors and the solidarity and trust of the business community and the people.

Thanks to that, production and business activities have bounced back without any obstacles from administrative regulations. This is also because of the right stance on Covid-19 prevention and flexibly effective control of the Government which enables economic activities to return to normal.

However, the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment also acknowledged the fact that Vietnam's economy still faces difficulties in terms of prices and labor shortage. In terms of prices, the price escalation has affected a series of other prices, especially the price of input materials. Moreover, escalating logistics costs lead goods prices up, hinder and sales, affect business expansion plans of enterprises.

The labor shortage is not a long-term problem, but it has a great impact on businesses, especially in the driving areas of the economy when workers are not ready to return to work. Therefore, the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment said the Ministry has proposed that more solutions are needed to connect the labor market.

Therefore, forecasting the late six months of the year, MPI has developed two economic scenarios. Regarding the scenario of achieving the target according to the Government's Resolution of 6.5% growth, this is a relatively large and feasible number.

Regarding inflation, according to Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong, inflation in Vietnam is not a serious issue like in European countries or the US. However, risks and pressures are present, so we must be very careful in managing prices so that the CPI increase fluctuates below 4% in line with the set target.

Also on this issue, at the press conference, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son said that, in addition to drastically implementing Resolution 01 of the Government and the socio-economic development program, we need to focus on implementing national key projects and other synchronous solutions so that we can be assured of successful implementation of the Resolution of the National Assembly.

At the Government Conference with localities on the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also said that the positive socio-economic results achieved in the past six months were due to the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the participation of the whole political system, the supervision and support of the National Assembly, the drastic direction and focus management of the Government, the Prime Minister, the efforts of all levels and sectors, the consensus and support of the people, businesses and international friends.

However, as stated by the Prime Minister, the tasks in the last six months are difficult. As a result, the general guiding spirit is to uphold the basic principles but be proactive and flexible which can creatively turn risks into threats, and make good use of opportunities for sustainable development.