Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has questioned big differentials in statistics announced by ministries and agencies, saying the disparities make it hard for the Government to make good its macroeconomic management.

Speaking at a working session with the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi on August 16, Hue cited an example in which the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Vietnam exported 200,000 tons of pork while the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s figure was up to 300,000 tons.

“We do not know what numbers are accurate,” Hue said, calling on ministries to be serious about numbers.

Hue expressed concern about the lack of clear statistic figures in multiple sectors including numbers of laborers in rural areas and of the agricultural sector as well as labor quality in this sector.

Hue said there has not been credible statistics about unemployment in urban and rural areas and the proportion of tertiary graduates able to find jobs.

He told the GSO to collect data relating to two-way trade between Vietnam and other ASEAN countries, particularly after the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) took shape early this year.

“We need the data. Thailand has emerged as Vietnam’s biggest auto exporter and Vietnam can become a major consumption market for products made in the AEC,” Hue said.

The Deputy PM cast doubt on the accuracy of numbers about operational businesses, startups, enterprises that have gone bankrupt and resumed operation and the number of people who have lost jobs, and companies which can run at a profit and pay taxes for the State budget.

At the working session the GSO’s director general Nguyen Bich Lam proposed the Government tell provinces and cities to announce figures in accordance with the statistics law. He suggested localities organize meetings on their socioeconomic performance later to give the agency more time to collect data and make public more accurate figures.

Lam said the GSO would implement a scheme to change the process of collecting and processing data about gross regional domestic product (GRDP) for cities and provinces. As planned, the agency will calculate and announce GRDP for localities from 2017.

Lam noted that many provinces and cities have set higher economic growth targets than their capacity, piling pressure on the GSO’s assessment of results in the localities.

SGT