Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF-World Bank Group in Bali.

PM Phuc highlighted Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements in 2018, especially stable macro-economy, controlled inflation, an annual economic growth rate of some 7 percent, and high trade surplus in the last nine months.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is pushing ahead with economic restructuring, growth model reform, fiscal consolidation, public debt control, prudent and flexible financial – monetary policies, business climate improvement, development of the private economic sector, innovation encouragement, and improvement of the capacity of joining in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

He appreciated IMF’s support for Vietnam’s socio-economic development policies and its advice about how to stabilise the macro-economy, promote the economic growth, and ensure social welfares.

The leader also welcomed IMF’s positive evaluation of the country’s economic situation and prospect, asking the organisation to continue providing Vietnam with policy advice about economic restructuring, growth model reform, perfection of financial-banking systems, and utilisation of the Industry 4.0 in the financial sector.

For her part, Lagarde highly valued the Vietnamese PM’s speech at the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering on the sidelines of the IMF-WB annual meetings, noting that it introduced many concrete and practical proposals and initiatives.

She congratulated Vietnam on the country’s socio-economic development attainments, particularly in reinforcing macro-economic stability, improving the business climate, and raising competitiveness. She suggested Vietnam press ahead with restructuring, increase investment in education and health care, control public debt, step up fiscal consolidation, control exchange rates flexibly, and actively integrate into the world.

The Managing Director affirmed that the IMF will continue assisting Vietnam to keep macro-economic stability and bolster its economic growth to achieve sustainable and inclusive development goals.

She also appreciated the country’s contributions to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust.–VNA