The Government will adopt a series of measures, including pumping more oil, to achieve economic growth of as high as 6.7% this year, said Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung.

Delivering a Government report at the 10th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee in Hanoi on May 15, Dung said the Government would order a jack-up in oil extraction so as to meet the GDP growth target for the year.

The Government will urgently review all the projects that have been completed but remained inactive and those still in trouble like the Formosa steel project to help them ride out difficulties and come into operation.

If already-registered projects are facing problems with paperwork, land and labor, the Government will also assist them clear these problems so that they can quickly proceed with disbursements, thus injecting capital into the economy.

The Government will try to get all investment procedures done soon for big projects such as North-South Expressway, Long Thanh International Airport, a flood control project in HCMC and a coastal road. Disbursement of a VND100 trillion credit program for high-tech agriculture will be stepped up, Dung said.

The Government report made no mention of GDP growth in the first four months of the year. However, a report by the NA Economic Committee points out some socio-economic difficulties have emerged this year.

Chairman of the NA Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said first-quarter growth was estimated at 5.1% over the same period last year, the lowest quarterly growth rate in recent years.

To achieve 6.7% growth in all of 2017, the average quarterly growth in the rest of the year should be 7%. But given the current tough economic conditions, it would prove to be difficult to do that, said Thanh, adding the economy could expand 6.3-6.5% at best.

He called for the Government to focus on macro-economic stability and the quality of growth, instead of economic growth.

The Government should carefully weigh boosting oil pumping and mineral mining in the country to achieve the growth target, he said.

Optimistic indicators

The Government report shows some socio-economic improvements in January-April, with the macro economy remaining stable and inflation put under control.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) picked up 5.1% in the first four months, well above 4.1% in the first quarter but below 7.4% in the same period last year.

Total retail sales of goods and services in the period expanded 9.6% year-on-year. International visitors to the nation grew 32% over the same period last year to an estimated 4.3 million.

Import and export activities continued to expand. January-April export turnover reached US$61.34 billion, up 15.4% year-on-year, and import spending edged up 24.9% to US$64.07 billion, causing a trade deficit of US$2.73 billion, 4.47% of total export revenue.

State budget disbursements accounted for 19.2% of the plan approved by the NA, up from 18% in the same period last year.

Fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals in January-April, including through share acquisitions, shot up 40.5% over the same period in 2016 to US$10.58 billion. But a mere US$4.8 billion was disbursed, up 3.2% year-on-year.

In the first four months of the year, 39,580 new domestic enterprises were set up with total registered capital of VND369.6 trillion, up 14% in number and 48.9% in capital against the same period last year.

SGT