The National Assembly on October 21 listened to Thanh’s report on inspecting the results of the socio-economic development plan in 2024 and plans for 2025.

In 2024, the region and the world continue to witness unfavorable conditions. However, overcoming difficulties, Vietnam’s economy has continued to recover, gaining important achievements.

The economic growth has recovered, estimated to reach 6.8-7 percent this year, higher than the targets of 6-6.5 percent set earlier this year by the National Assembly. International institutions have given positive assessments about Vietnam’s growth potential.

The macro economy was stable with inflation controlled amid minimum wage increases, while major balances of the national economy guaranteed. The public debts, government’s debts and overexpenditures have been curbed at levels much lower than allowed by the National Assembly. 

The financial and monetary market has been stable, with average lending interest rates in new transactions on the decrease.

Import-export and FDI (foreign direct investment) have witnessed high growth rates, which were considered the ‘bright spots’ of the 2024 economy.

New breakthroughs have been made in transport and electricity infrastructure. About 109 more kilometers of highways have been completed and put into operation, raising the total length of highways to 2,021 kilometers. Meanwhile, the 500kv Circuit 3 transmission line that connects Quang Trach and Pho Noi was inaugurated after six months of execution.

However, many problems still exist. There are risks in the macroeconomy. The higher-than-expected growth rate cannot reflect all risks in the national economy, including reliance on exports and public investment.

There are signs of challenges in the monetary and finance market with a high bad debt ratio, tardiness in dealing with weak banks, and a low credit growth rate. The liquidity in the corporate bond market has improved, but is still facing difficulties.

The real estate market has shown signs of recovery, but problems exist: the structure of real estate products is unreasonable (abundance of high-end apartments and deficiency in number of affordable housing), which has caused housing prices to escalate, making it impossible for those who have demand for accommodation to buy products.

Thanh cited a very serious problem. Many buyers at land auctions give up after they bid high prices at auctions, accepting to lose deposit money.

As a result of monopolization, price inflation and land speculation in the market, the public and businesses cannot access land and property because of overly high prices.

The Ministry of Construction (MOC) said that in many cases, speculators bid high prices for some land plots, but back out later. In other cases, they buy and sell the same land plots many times after the auctions to make people think that prices have jumped to new high levels. This creates artificially high price levels and corners the market. The phenomenon occurs relatively regularly and is organized.

State management agencies are puzzled about how to deal with the problem. Some districts have decided to postpone land auctions in their localities, while other districts have continued organizing land auctions.

Local newspapers have reported that a recent land auction in Ha Dong district and auctions in suburban districts of Hanoi lasted many hours and some finished at midnight.

The land auction in Hoai Duc district lasted 20 hours, from August 19 morning to the dawn of August 20, with nine auctioning rounds (six mandatory rounds).

Most recently, the auction of 27 land plots in Ha Dong district lasted 23 hours until 11 pm October 19, which comprised 14 rounds. The highest bidding price was VND262 million per sq m, or eight times higher than the starting price. The bidding prices for other land plots were between VND140 million and VND160 million per sq m.

After 20 hours, the auction of 54 land plots in Yen Son commune in Quoc Oai district attracted 300 clients and 1,000 bidders, and finished at 2 am October 14. The highest bidding price was VND55 million per sq m, or 4.4 times higher than the starting price.

However, after the auction, the Quoc Oai district People’s Committee released a notice on temporarily suspending an auction of 39 land plots in Tan Phu commune.

Tran Thuong