The Government has decided not to cut down on capital sources for poverty reduction to ensure sustainability and stability in this activity, although public investments are being scaled down across the board, said the labor minister.

Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said at the online meeting on social security held by the government portal chinhphu.vn on Monday that funds would continue to be pumped into anti-poverty projects. The country has seen the satisfactory poverty reduction rate of 5% per year, she said.

Minister Chuyen said residents in remote areas and disaster-prone areas could become poor again when catastrophe occurred suddenly. Therefore, sustainable poverty reduction is an important target.

Chuyen emphasized that despite the economic woes, the Government would not decrease the number of poverty reduction projects. The investment projects for poverty reduction under deployment will continue to be executed as planned.

The Government laid down as a policy to guarantee the social security regardless of the difficulties in the State budget.

In addition to the programs applicable to 62 poor districts nationwide, the Government this year subsidized some VND930 billion in power prices for poverty-stricken families, provided allowances for low-income earners, remedied consequences of flooding and other disasters, and supplied some 6,000 tons of rice for over 8,000 households in disaster-hit areas.

The central authorities would continue investments in social security programs, Minister Chuyen added, such as prioritizing the expenditure to assist the poor in terms of healthcare and education. In particular, the Government has spent over VND5.7 trillion on buying medical insurance cards for poor people, some VND3.5 trillion on tuition reduction for poor students and VND1.85 trillion on housing support for the poor.

The Government has just made reviews on poverty reduction after three years of deploying Resolution 30a, said the labor ministry. The total State budget capital distributed to support the program since 2008 has amounted to over VND8.5 trillion, in which nearly VND6.5 trillion was used for investment and the remainder for helping poor households overcome difficulties in their areas.

Besides the State budget, the Government also prioritized to distribute the bond capital and official development assistance (ODA) fund to poverty-stricken households, worth some VND22 trillion in three years, meaning each district received some VND118 billion a year.

The goal set for the three-year period was to cut the annual poverty reduction by 4%, but the review showed that the level was achieved at 5%. Despite the troubled economic situation this year, the Government still doubled the expenditure for investment in poverty reduction compared to 2010.

SGT