VietNamNet Bridge – Sustained macroeconomic performance and protecting poor people from economic shocks is on the agenda for the mid-year Consultative Group meeting for Viet Nam.

The meeting, which opened this morning in central Ha Tinh Province, was told by Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc there were changes in the economic situation in Viet Nam in the first months of the year.

"Prices of some essential goods and inflation rate went up sharply, foreign exchange rates changed and difficulties emerged in some socio-economic areas which affected people's lives," Phuc said.

It had increased pressure on the macro economy, he said.

"The Vietnamese Government has put at the top of its agenda such key objectives as inflation control, macroeconomy stabilisation and social security. The Government has issued Resolution 11 with six solutions to implement these objectives."

World Bank country director in Viet Nam Vitoria Kwakwa said discussions today were on important issues confronting Viet Nam that had the potential to derail the nation's remarkable economic and social success of the last few decades.

"The evidence demonstrates that macroeconomic instability has been a contributing factor in the experiences of countries that got stuck in a middle-income trap for a long time," she said.

Viet Nam's success at reducing poverty had been also been threatened by macroinstability.

It was necessary to get inflation under control, she said.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and more than 700 delegates are attending the event. They will also discuss aid effectiveness and issues of the monetary and financial sector, fiscal and budget transparency, public investment efficiency and State-owned enterprises.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News