Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’ssocio-economic situation in April 2019 witnessed many positive signs withmacroeconomic stability and surging aggregate demand, Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc told a regular cabinet meeting in Hanoi on May 4.

PMPhuc noted with pleasure that a large number of new businesses were establishedwhile the country made a record in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI)with a lot of large-scale projects. The agriculture sector yielded bumper cropsand the epidemic of African swine fever was controlled to minimise damage, hesaid.

Accordingto the government leader, the country’s exports increased significantly andcontinuously recorded a trade surplus. Inflation was curbed at a low level althoughprices of some services and petrol were adjusted upwards and the country’sPurchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed up, ranking second among ASEANcountries. 

Regardingthe recent hikes in electricity, oil and petrol prices, the PM explained thatthe increase of power price was in line with rules of a socialist-orientedmarket economy and had been deliberated carefully by theGovernment. However, the calculation of electricity price remains unclearand unconvincing, causing public concern in recent days.

In that context, PM Phuc said he had ordered to conduct inspections on theadjustment of electricity selling prices and the calculation method, and thenmake them public. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the VietnamElectricity (EVN) must have the responsibility to report this issue to theGovernment and people, he said.

Throughthe Private Sector Economic Forum 2019, the PM requested ministries, sectorsand localities to push ahead with administrative reform and improvement ofbusiness environment.

Regarding public investment, the PM said the disbursement remained tardy andasked cabinet members to take stronger measures and strictly handle ministries,sectors, localities and investors involved in the slow disbursement of publicinvestment.

Areport delivered by the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that theconsumer price index (CPI) in April 2019 went up 0.31 percent against theprevious month. The four-month CPI rose 2.71 percent year-on-year, the lowestlevel in the past three years.

Theindustrial production index (IPI) expanded 9.2 percent driven by the highgrowth of 10.9 percent in the processing and manufacturing industry.
Totalretail sales of goods and services recorded a growth rate of 11.9 percent, thehighest since 2015.

Morethan 43,000 new businesses were established in the first four months of 2019with total registered capital of over 540 trillion VND (23.22 billion USD). Over17,000 enterprises resumed their operations, up 53.6 percent year on year.

Theflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital reached 5.7 billion USD, ayear-on-year rise of 7.5 percent. The total amount of newly registered andadded capital increased 28.6 percent to 7.5 billion USD.

Thecountry grossed 78.76 billion USD from exports, up 5.8 percent, including over23 billion USD from the domestic economic sector, up 10.5 percent, and enjoyeda trade surplus of 711 million USD.

Duringthe meeting, cabinet members focused discussions on the implementation of theGovernment’s resolution on implementing the socio-economic development plan andthe State budget in 2019 as well as the socio-economic situation in the firstfour months of this year.

Theyalso prepared contents for the government’s submission to the seventh meetingof the 14th National Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in lateMay.-VNA