Highlights of the past week: Four commercial banks will sell gold directly; consider the option of withdrawing social insurance at once

In the week from May 27 to June 2, a number of notable events took place in the country, attracting public attention: The second week of the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly; the economy grew positively in the first 5 months; four commercial banks will sell gold directly from June 3; considering the option of withdrawing social insurance at once; focusing on monitoring and preparing for the 2024 high school graduation exam; the case of a preschool child's death suspected to be due to being left in a car...

Second week of the 7th session, 15th National Assembly The week from May 27 to June 2 is the second working week of the 7th session, 15th National Assembly.

Session at the National Assembly hall. Photo: VNA

The National Assembly discussed many important contents such as: Additional assessment of the results of the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget in 2023; the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget in the first months of 2024; the results of the implementation of national gender equality goals in 2023; the work of practicing thrift and combating waste in 2023... In particular, during the week, the National Assembly discussed a number of draft laws such as: Draft Law on Social Insurance (amended); Draft Law on Organization of People's Courts (amended); Draft Law on Capital City (amended); Draft Law on National Defense Industry, Security and Industrial Mobilization. The National Assembly also discussed the proposed National Assembly Supervision Program in 2025; expected Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2025, adjustment of Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2024. In addition, the National Assembly discussed the Draft Resolution on piloting the addition of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Nghe An province; the draft Resolution amending and supplementing Resolution No. 19/2020/QH14 of the National Assembly on piloting the organization of urban government models and a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Da Nang City; giving opinions on the approval of the 2022 State budget settlement... One of the issues that the public and voters were particularly interested in at the National Assembly last week was the National Assembly considering the regulation of special policies and strong decentralization for the Hanoi City government in the draft Law on the Capital (amended) after more than 10 years of implementation, placing greater responsibility on the city government in building, protecting and developing the Capital, helping the city government to be more proactive in organizing the apparatus and staffing to be able to effectively undertake the very special role and task of being the Capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The draft Law on the Capital clearly defines special policies allowing the Hanoi City People's Committee to locally adjust the general urban planning, general planning for the construction of functional areas, and specialized planning for the city's technical infrastructure; approve projects to build works on river banks and floating banks on diked rivers and use underground space of the City. Consider the option of withdrawing social insurance at one time At the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly, delegates discussed the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended). Two options for withdrawing social insurance at one time received much attention, because of the impact on the social security system and millions of workers, and their impact needs to be carefully assessed before the Law comes into effect. Specifically, option 1 is divided into two groups, including: Group 1: Continue to apply for one-time social insurance as prescribed in Resolution 93 of the National Assembly. Employees participating in social insurance before the law takes effect (expected from July 1, 2025), after 12 months are not subject to compulsory social insurance, do not participate in voluntary social insurance and have less than 20 years of social insurance payment. The remaining insurance payment period is reserved for employees to continue participating and enjoying insurance benefits. Group 2: Employees participating in social insurance from the effective date of the law onwards are not subject to this provision. Option 2: After 12 months of not being subject to compulsory insurance, not participating in voluntary insurance and having paid insurance for less than 20 years, if the employee requests, a part of the payment will be resolved, but not more than 50% of the total time paid into the pension and death fund. The remaining time of paying insurance will be reserved for the employee to continue participating and enjoying insurance regimes. Many opinions of voters and National Assembly deputies said that when considering cases of one-time withdrawal of social insurance, it is necessary to have a process to evaluate one-time withdrawal of social insurance according to the options that truly meet the needs of the employee. The State must calculate a plan to support credit policies for employees, so that they do not have to withdraw social insurance one time. At the same time, the Government needs to soon have a comprehensive plan to support employees facing difficulties arising from unemployment, job loss, illness, etc. through social credit policies and job creation support. Therefore, opinions suggest that it is necessary to consider the time to pass the Law on Social Insurance (amended) before or after salary reform, to avoid having to review and amend it right after passing it. The economy has grown positively in the past 5 months. Last week, the General Statistics Office ( Ministry of Planning and Investment ) announced: The average consumer price index in the first 5 months of 2024 increased by 4.03% over the same period last year; core inflation increased by 2.78%, the industrial production index increased by 6.8%. In addition, public investment capital achieved better results in terms of disbursement plan compared to the same period in 2023, foreign direct investment registered in Vietnam reached 11.07 billion USD, up 2%; international trade in goods was a bright spot with the total export and import turnover of goods estimated at 305.53 billion USD, up 16.6%, the trade balance of goods had a trade surplus of 8.01 billion USD. Key export items continue to recover well... However, besides positive signals, the economy has not yet fully recovered. The growth momentum based on consumption has recovered slowly. In the first 5 months of 2024, total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue at current prices increased by only 5.2%, while in the same period it increased by 9.3%. The business sector still faces many difficulties. In the first 5 months of 2024, an average of 19,800 enterprises entered the market per month, but up to 19,500 enterprises withdrew from the market... To maintain the growth rate in 2024, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung proposed that the Government direct the drastic, synchronous and effective implementation of solutions and policies, ensuring harmony, handling short-term situations and developing in the medium and long term, especially supporting domestic enterprises to overcome procedural difficulties; Prepare favorable conditions to attract FDI shifts. At the same time, the Government needs to focus on accelerating the effective disbursement of public investment capital; urgently complete the detailed allocation of the State budget investment plan for 2024 in accordance with regulations, ensuring focus, key points, not spreading out, in accordance with implementation capacity. Four commercial banks will sell gold directly from June 3. Last week, the State Bank announced that it would implement a plan to sell gold directly to four State commercial banks, namely VietinBank, Vietcombank, Agribank , and BIDV, from June 3, with prices based on world gold prices, in order to reduce the price difference between domestic and international prices compared to present, creating conditions for these banks to sell gold directly to people. According to representatives of banks, this is the right policy of the State Bank, banks will synchronously implement the publication of a list of gold bar selling points on the bank's website; Complete procedures for establishing a relationship for buying and selling gold bars with the State Bank. Direct gold sales to people will be implemented starting from Monday (June 3), first in the distribution network of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Implementing the Government's policy of stabilizing the gold market, State-owned commercial banks do not set profit targets, but will supply at appropriate prices based on the purchase price from the State Bank. Regarding this issue, at the discussion session at the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that the world market tends to increase and the domestic market also fluctuates accordingly. However, the difference between domestic and world gold prices for SJC gold bars has increased. From June 2022, the Government and the Prime Minister have closely directed the State Bank to implement solutions to stabilize the gold market, strengthen inspection, examination and control. To continue to closely monitor and manage the gold market, the State Bank needs to review and evaluate the actual operations of the gold market to have solutions according to regulations, bringing the gold market closer to the world market.

Focus on monitoring and preparing for the 2024 high school graduation exam Also last week, the Ministry of Education and Training issued an inspection plan for the Ministry's leadership delegations and the National Steering Committee for the 2024 high school graduation exam. Specifically, the Ministry of Education and Training will organize 4 inspection delegations to inspect the organization of the 2024 high school graduation exam in localities regarding the preparation of exam sites, areas for printing and copying exam papers, and grading exams; direct and guide localities to organize the exam safely, seriously, objectively, and in accordance with exam regulations; create the most favorable conditions for candidates; prevent, detect, and promptly direct the handling of violations (if any). Four inspection delegations will be in the northern provinces, southern provinces, central provinces, the Central Highlands, the Southeast, and the northern mountainous provinces. The inspection teams will proactively select and inspect 2 to 3 localities in each region from June 8 to 17, 2024. The National Steering Committee for the 2024 High School Graduation Exam will carry out the task of inspecting the exam supervision and grading work in localities across the country. The Provincial Steering Committee will prepare a report on the preparation and organization of the 2024 High School Graduation Exam in the locality, ensuring safety, seriousness, and compliance with regulations. The case of a preschool child dying due to being forgotten in a car Last week in Thai Binh province, an unfortunate accident occurred at Hong Nhung 2 Kindergarten (Phu Xuan commune, Thai Binh city) causing a preschool boy to die due to being forgotten in a school bus.

The car carrying the child was forgotten. Photo: VNA

Upon receiving the information, the Ministry of Education and Training issued an official dispatch requesting the Thai Binh Department of Education and Training to report the incident, coordinate with relevant agencies to carry out necessary work to handle the incident in accordance with the law and encourage, share and support the child's family; implement solutions to ensure stable care and education of children at Hong Nhung 2 Kindergarten and other preschools in the area. Regarding the case, on May 30, the Investigation Police Agency (Thai Binh City Police) issued a decision to prosecute the accused, execute a 3-month temporary detention order against Phuong Quynh Anh (born in 1986, residing in Vu Phuc commune, Thai Binh city), a student shuttle employee of Hong Nhung Kindergarten, campus 2, to continue investigating the crime of "Involuntary manslaughter" stipulated in Clause 1, Article 128 of the 2015 Penal Code. On May 31, the Investigation Police Agency of Thai Ninh province continued to prosecute the accused, issue an arrest warrant to temporarily detain Nguyen Van Lam (born in 1965, residing in Quang Trung ward, Thai Binh city), a shuttle driver of Hong Nhung Kindergarten, campus 2, to investigate the crime of "Involuntary manslaughter" stipulated in Article 128 of the 2015 Penal Code; prosecuted and issued a residential ban order against two teachers in charge of the class where the student died, Doan Thi Nham (born in 1998, residing in group 4, Tran Lam ward, Thai Binh city) and Nguyen Thi Phuong (born in 1966, residing in Dai Lai 2 village, Phu Xuan commune, Thai Binh city) for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences" as prescribed in Article 360 ​​of the 2015 Penal Code.

Van Son/Tin Tuc Newspaper

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/noi-bat-tuan-qua-bon-ngan-hang-thuong-mai-se-ban-vang-truc-tiep-can-nhac-phuong-an-rut-bao-hiem-xa-hoi-mot-lan-20240601143822775.htm