Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday delivered a speech at the ongoing National Assembly session and answered the deputies’ questions. He explained a number of issues, including the management and implementation of tasks for 2011-2012 period and further, the restructure of the economy and measures to develop agriculture and rural areas.

Prime Minister Dung said the government will take measures to assist businesses

Mr. Dung said the government is taking numerous measures to curb inflation and stabilize the macro-economy. In the 2012 fiscal year, the government will continue its tight monetary policies to reduce overspending to below 4%, manage budget collection, and seek to increase foreign currency reserve. Prime Minister Dung added the government will take measures to assist businesses: “We should do our best to lower inflation rate to single digit level to cut interest rates, help businesses access loans, reduce investment costs and prioritize credits for exports and production, particularly agricultural production. This is basic and most important solution. Financial incentives should be given to enhance business capacities. The government will implement the tax incentive policy for longer period of time, while exempting or reducing tax for businesses. I propose the National Assembly to consider tax cut and exemption for enterprises. Efforts will be made to expand the domestic and foreign markets, accelerate exports and encourage domestic consumption of locally-made product”.  

The Prime Minister said the government has focused on restructuring public investment and ensure its efficiency through monitoring: “We need to define the functions of State owned enterprises in the socialist oriented market economy. Equitisation of SOEs needs to be promoted to consolidate profitable economic groups. Their operation has to be transparent and be treated equally as other economic sectors.”

The Prime Minister said that more funding from bond issuance will be spent on agricultural and farming development.  

Earlier, the State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Binh answered the National Assembly questions about the restructuring plan for the local banking system. Mr. Binh said bank restructuring solution will follow three major groups. Group 1 includes banks with healthy financial situation to be developed into key banks, whose number is expected to be 15 by 2015, accounting for 80% of the market share of the entire system. Group 2 will be banks with a healthy financial situation but small scale. The central bank will work to ensure their healthy operations. Group 3 will be banks which are facing financial difficulties. The central bank will restructure them by reorganizing the shareholder structure or merger them into other organizations. Governor Nguyen Van Binh  pointed out specific roadmap: 

"From now till the first quarter next year,  the banking system will form three groups of banks. From second quarter of next year till the end of 2013, we will complete restructuring for group 3 and ensure bank liquidity. From 2013-2015, the roadmap will consolidate healthy banks. By 2020, banking system will continue to be restructured with another 4 credit institutions added to group 1".

Regarding gold trading issue, governor Binh said the State Bank of Vietnam is working out a gold management decree, which will encourage producing jewelry gold  and tighten gold bar trading