Gov’t meeting reviews socio-economic situation in first four months

Hanoi (VNA) – The Government convened the regular April meeting under the chair of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 5 to look into the socio-economic situation in April and the first four months of 2023, along with some other important issues.

Braving numerous difficulties and challenges both inside and outside, the country has obtained certain major targets, PM Chinh said, elaborating that the macro-economy has been basically stable, major balances maintained, inflation kept under control, and growth promoted.

In the first four months, the state budget collection reached 39.8% of this year’s target, trade surplus stood at 6.35 billion USD, nearly 3 million tonnes of rice was exported, energy security was ensured, the labour market recovered, and social security was guaranteed. Besides, defence, security, and national sovereignty were safeguarded firmly, diplomatic and integration activities boosted, and the corruption combat enhanced.

Meanwhile, the economy also suffered from impacts of external factors, including high inflation in the world, global growth slowdown, and unpredictable changes in the international situation. In Vietnam, there remained a number of challenges to macro-economic stability while the corporate bond and real estate markets still faced latent problems, the Government leader pointed out.

However, many policies and solutions to tackle difficulties issued since the year’s beginning began to prove effective in April. Services, especially tourism, have also been promoted since last month. As a result, improvements have been recorded in such fields as the corporate bond and real estate markets, public investment, the facilitation of money flows in the economy.

Reputable international organisations like IMF, WB, and OECD continued to forecast a positive growth outlook for the Vietnamese economy this year, according to the PM.

He held that it is necessary to stay calm and objective in assessing the situation, show stronger determination, make greater efforts, respond more quickly and effectively, and take appropriate solutions to step up works in the coming months.

At the meeting, officials also discussed the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development programme, the public investment disbursement, and the three national target programmes./.