Deputy Tran Hoang Ngan at a discussion (Photo: Minh Điền – www.sggp.org.vn)

(VOVworld) – The NA’s deputies gathered on Monday to discuss a draft law on the national reserves, and agreed it is needed to meet unexpected and urgent requirements. This includes dealing with the consequences of natural disasters, fires, and epidemics to ensure national security, as well as social welfare. Some said that Vietnam’s national reserves account for only about 0.38% of the country’s GDP, much lower than in other countries. They said that to increase the national reserves, it is necessary to expand the list of commodities in the national reserves and involve every sector. Most deputies said that building up the national reserves should be based on real developments in the economy and the Government should complete its annual budget before submitting it to the NA for consideration. This is in line with the Law on the State Budget. Many legislators proposed not using reserved goods to stabilize the market and macro-economy as the current volume of reserves cannot keep up with demand. Le Van Hoang, a deputy from Da Nang City, says ‘We carefully study the Law on the National Reserves which states which commodities are to be used to stabilize the markets and the macro-economy. This will be a difficult task and seems to go counter to our development goals for a market economy. However, ensuring social welfare is a big job and its scope relates to many industries, and sectors. I propose the compiling board considers lowering the targets when using the national reserves, to balance its resources. The reserves will only be used by the Government in emergency situations’.

Later the same day, the deputies discussed the balance of the 2010 state budget. The final budget deficit was more than 109 trillion VND, or 5.5% of GDP. This figure is acceptable as the NA allowed for the 2010 budget deficit to be around 120 trillion VND, which is 6.2% of GDP. The deputies suggested allocating more of the state budget to develop science and technology. Deputy Bui Duc Thuan representing Lai Chau province says ‘I agree with the government’s statement and the NA’s Committee on Finance and the Budget’s report on 2010 state budget. The statement was compiled from the annual budgetary reports of 63 cities and provinces, and approved by the provincial people’s committees. The report has been verified by the Ministry of Finance and audited by the State Audit, and cross-checked with data supplied by the Treasury’.  

The deputies also discussed funding additional projects using government bonds by 2015.