Programme on economic recovery needed: NA Standing Committee

The Government should quickly build a programme on economic recovery, the National Assembly's Economic Committee said at the 4th session of the NA Standing Committee on October 12.

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)
At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting, the Standing Committee looked into the Government’s reports on the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget estimate in 2021, along with the socio-economic development plan, the State budget and the central budget allocation plan for 2022.

Participants took note of the flexible management of monetary policy, which has helped to keep inflation at a low rate, with January-February CPI growing at 1.82 percent, State budget collection surpassing the estimate, food security ensured, and agriculture continuing to serve as the pillar for the national economy amidst difficulties. Notably, the “vaccine diplomacy” work has seen marked outcomes.

The NA's Economic Committee, however, said a number of policies have yet to match the complexity and impact of the pandemic, the disbursement remains sluggish, and the inoculation rate is still low, making the target of vaccinating 70 percent of the population by the first half of 2022 a big challenge.

The disbursement of public funds in the first nine months of this year met only 47.83 percent of the target, it pointed out.

The committee asked the Government to try its best to protect the public’s health, maintain socio-economic activities as normal, sketch out a master plan on COVID-19 prevention and control in the new situation, and accelerate vaccination to soon reach herd immunity.

The Government needs to continue effectively implementing issued support policies and put forth a roadmap for economic reopening, putting safety first, the committee said.

It suggested the Government persistently pursue the goal of stabilising the macro economy, maintain the financial and monetary market, increase public investment disbursement, and speed up the implementation of key transport projects.

The Government should work harder to improve the efficiency of the external affairs work, step up international integration and roll out the “vaccine diplomacy” strategy more drastically, according to the committee.