Fiscal policy needs to remain expansionary.
Delegates said that the GDP in the first quarter of 2023 was 3.32%, and great determination and effort are needed to achieve the target of 6.5% for the whole year (each remaining quarter must reach 7.5%). Delegate Trinh Xuan An ( Dong Nai ) and many other delegates said that there must be urgent solutions, even beyond precedent, to support the business system.
Deputies suggested that the Government continue to reduce interest rates and simplify conditions and procedures for loans so that capital reaches businesses directly and accurately. Reduce inspection and examination contents that make it difficult for businesses to avoid the situation where businesses have to struggle to explain up and down. The Government also needs to review and evaluate to find solutions to promote disbursement of public investment capital; immediately remove bottlenecks in implementing the 2% interest rate support policy, and unblock capital flows for economic recovery and development.
Delegate Tran Anh Tuan (HCMC) "suggested" using the remaining state budget currently deposited in the banking system, about 1 million billion VND, to arrange immediate support for workers and unemployed people, immediately build rental housing areas and boarding houses for workers in export processing zones and industrial parks; support job training and career conversion for workers. Opinions also suggested that fiscal policy should continue to be expanded cautiously, in the direction of considering tax exemptions and reductions; expanding the scope of value-added tax reductions...
Replace the staff who refuse to work.
Expressing concern about the situation of "a number of cadres and civil servants who are not yet resolute, have a mentality of avoiding, fearing responsibility, shirking responsibility, and fearing mistakes", which is spreading from the central to local levels and continuing to spread from the public sector to the private sector", Deputy Tran Quoc Tuan ( Tra Vinh ) proposed to classify cadres who are afraid of responsibility into 2 groups; prioritizing the handling of the first group (cadres who have degraded political ideology, cadres who do not want to work, because they do not have personal interests). The urgent solution, according to the Deputy, is to immediately replace these cadres with cadres who are dedicated and responsible. Regarding the second group (cadres who are afraid of violating the law, so they do not dare to do it), Deputy Tuan suggested that the National Assembly and the Government direct the review and improvement of the legal system as a basis to encourage and protect dynamic, creative cadres who dare to think, dare to do, and dare to make breakthroughs for the common good.
The reason for the phenomenon of officials avoiding responsibility, according to Deputy To Van Tam (Kon Tum), is that there are some officials who, due to limited capacity and qualifications, have limited understanding of legal regulations, are afraid of making mistakes in whatever they do, and do not dare to do it. If they do not dare to do it, they avoid and push it away. "We must review this ratio to deal with it," said Deputy To Van Tam.
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Delegate Tran Anh Tuan (HCMC) speaks at the discussion session. Photo: QUANG PHUC |
According to Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, the disease of being afraid of making mistakes and not daring to do things does not only occur in isolated areas but also exists in many localities, some central ministries and branches, among a number of civil servants, and in socio-economic activities. The Ministry of Home Affairs will urgently advise on promulgating regulations on protecting those who dare to think and act, and protecting officials. The Ministry of Home Affairs is reporting to the Government Personnel Committee, and may submit to the National Assembly a pilot Resolution on this content.
Stopping salary increases but public investment capital "staying in place"
At the discussion session, Deputy Ha Anh Phuong (Phu Tho), Deputy Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) and many other deputies suggested that it is necessary to amend the regulations on fire prevention and fighting; otherwise, thousands of businesses and establishments will have to close. Speaking on this issue, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that the fire prevention and fighting regulations and standards are compiled and issued by the ministries: Public Security, Construction, Industry and Trade, Science and Technology. The Ministry of Construction issued Regulation 06 on fire safety for houses and buildings to ensure fire prevention and fighting for buildings and construction parts. Currently, the Ministry of Construction has assigned the Institute of Construction Science and Technology to conduct a comprehensive review to consider amending and supplementing Regulation 06.
Deputy Pham Khanh Phong Lan (HCMC) asked the Government, especially the Ministry of Health, to answer when vaccines will be guaranteed in the expanded immunization program. Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that to ensure vaccines in 2023, the Ministry of Health has submitted to the Government a draft resolution on this content. The Prime Minister has strongly directed the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to arrange funds and the central budget in 2023 for the Ministry of Health to implement procurement according to regulations as in previous years. Currently, the Ministry of Health has compiled enough needs of 63 provinces and cities related to the request to purchase vaccines and directed vaccine suppliers to be ready to supply.
Regarding the issue of wages, Deputy Vu Thi Luu Mai (Hanoi), Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, said that we have continuously postponed the time of wage reform to focus resources on development investment, on the economic recovery and development program after the Covid-19 pandemic. After more than 2 years of implementation, although the Government, ministries and branches have strongly urged, there is still a lot of capital that cannot be allocated. Deputy Luu Mai was upset that while we are asking for "tightening the belt", stopping salary increases to save resources for investment, capital is stagnant and not being used effectively.
Implement stronger fiscal and monetary measures
On May 31, speaking with SGGP reporters on the sidelines of the National Assembly, Deputy Vu Tien Loc (Hanoi) said that in order for the economy to overcome current difficulties, he emphasized the need for stronger policies. Specifically, responsibilities must be clearly defined at all levels, sectors, and localities as a form of iron discipline to promote public investment disbursement, thereby increasing aggregate demand and creating a ripple effect in the economy. On the other hand, legal and administrative procedural problems need to be resolved more quickly so that real estate projects and other production and business projects can be implemented, creating jobs for workers, generating revenue, and increasing the ability of enterprises to repay debts. In addition, the Government needs to implement stronger fiscal and monetary measures. This is the right time to implement the national policy of easing the burden on the people and supporting enterprises, and not to increase any taxes, fees, or procedures. In particular, the 2% VAT reduction in the coming time needs to be expanded to all industries and last for at least 1 year.
Agreeing, Deputy Le Thanh Van (Ca Mau) said that the Government must have a short-term program, focusing on fiscal and monetary policies. The short-term response scenario requires flexible fiscal and monetary policies and one of the main solutions is to reduce VAT. Along with that, adjust investment attraction policies, especially global minimum tax to retain investors and attract more.
CIVILIZED
Untie the cash flow "bottleneck"
At the discussion session on socio-economics at the parliament on the morning of May 31, in many opinions expressed by deputies in the hall afterwards, a paradox emerged: the bottleneck in cash flow.
Deputy Tran Anh Tuan (HCMC) pointed out that the remaining state budget funds deposited in the banking system by mid-May 2023 had exceeded 1 million billion VND. According to Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, the Law on Public Investment stipulates that only when there is money can projects be established, and only when there is a project can money be allocated, so capital must wait for construction. On the contrary, to disburse, the investment preparation stage must be completed, and currently stuck at this stage, so capital must wait for construction. This loop has created an unacceptable paradox: the country is still poor, always lacking capital for development investment, but a large "package" of money available in the pocket cannot be spent because of congestion in the public investment disbursement channel.
Using one law to amend many laws, including the Law on Public Investment, is the solution proposed by Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc. However, the delay is also due to the implementation stage, because it is clear that with the same institutions, some localities do well, while others do not.
The issue has been raised in the National Assembly since 2019, the situation has persisted until now and there is still no radical solution.
ANH THU
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