Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the regular Government meeting for February 2023. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

PM Chinh assigned specific tasks to each ministry and sector, saying “The State Bank’s monetary policy must be firm, proactive, flexible and effective, which is coordinated with fiscal policy and other policies to maintain macroeconomic stability. The Bank should study and consider reducing interest rates, increase access to capital and credit growth, while capital flows must go into growth drivers and identified priority areas. The interbank market must be open to consider reasonable and effective interest rates, suitable for controlling inflation.”

The Prime Minister requested the People's Committees of provinces and cities to take better care of people's lives, eradicate hunger, reduce poverty, and implement national target programs. He asked localities to focus on planning, removing obstacles to boost production and business, site clearance for large projects, investment and trade promotion, product and market diversification, and supply chain.

According to a report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the macro-economy in February continued to be stable, inflation was controlled, major balances were ensured. The money market was basically stable, lending interest rates started to trend down, liquidity of the banking system was guaranteed.

Newly registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in the past two months indicated a positive signal  totaling 1.76 billion USD, 2.8 times higher than the same period last year. A trade surplus of 2.3 billion USD was recorded in February and 2.82 billion USD in the past two months.