At the meeting (Photo: SGGP)
The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City yesterday held a meeting on the socio-economic situation in May and the first five months of 2022 as well as the implementation of tasks in June 2022 chaired by deputy chairpersons of the municipal People's Committee including Phan Thi Thang, Duong Anh Duc, and Ngo Minh Chau.
In May, the industrial production index (IPI) continued to increase with stable growth. Total retail revenue and service revenue surged over the same period, budget revenue kept a good growth rate. Generally, in the first five months of the year, the total state budget revenue was estimated at more than VND209,800 billion (US$9 billion), reaching 54.28 percent of the year estimate and increasing by 19.52 percent over the same period.
However, Ho Chi Minh City is also facing several difficulties and challenges such as the decline in the stock market affecting investors' psychology, the risk of increasing inflation, and a number of industries with high labor index reduction.
Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance Pham Thi Hong Ha added that in June, the financial sector will implement several measures to prevent loss of budget revenue comprising control of transfer pricing activities to businesses with associated transactions, revenue management to e-commerce business activities and inspection check after-tax refund, revenue collection management in the field of real estate and tax management to house and business premise leasing activities.
At the meeting, participants discussed some issues such as the low disbursement rate of public investment capital in the first five months of the year. As of May 25, the total public investment plan in 2022 has been disbursed more than VND4,300 billion, reaching 13.5 percent of the plan.
Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Thi Thang speaks at the meeting (Photo: SGGP)
Speaking at the wrap-up of the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Thi Thang commented that in the first 5 months of the year, the city's economy recovered and grew compared to the first quarter of 2022.
Some socio-economic indicators of Ho Chi Minh City in the first five months of 2022
- Total retail sales of goods and services: VND 456,153 billion, up 0.6 percent over the same period.
- Revenue from import-export activities: VND 57,200 billion, reaching 49.1 percent of the estimate, up 11.7 percent over the same period.
- Total export turnover of goods of Ho Chi Minh City enterprises through the national border gate: $20.7 billion, up 7.9 percent over the same period.
- Total tourism revenue: VND 39,509 billion, up 9.8 percent compared to the same period.
However, the growth rate was slow compared to the same period last year and slower than the country's average.
In particular, the disbursement of public investment capital is still slow. Ms. Phan Thi Thang also assigned the Department of Planning and Investment to assume the prime responsibility for setting up a team that helps to remove obstacles and difficulties to the promotion of the progress of ODA projects.
The Department of Planning and Investment is also assigned to develop solutions for increasing investment capital by more than VND119,000 billion in case of proposing the National Assembly, the Prime Minister to approves the policy of loosening the public debt ceiling.
According to her, city authorities are very interested in the investment capital of more than VND119,000 billion as the southern metropolis has repeatedly proposed and the proposal was approved by the Chairperson of the National Assembly regarding the mechanism. However, it has been more than two months but the departments have not submitted the proposal.
Regarding administrative reform, Ms. Thang asked the Department of Home Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City to organize a conference in June to find solutions to improve the PAPI, PCI, and PAR-Index. In which, it is necessary to evaluate whether the solutions in the past time have been enough to make a change if necessary.
Vice Chairwoman Thang also asked the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City to take the lead in urgently implementing programs and policies on housing and construction, promulgate criteria and procedures for investment in building accommodation for workers, and social housing, and projects on mobilizing investment resources of the society. She noticed the completion of the implementation of the Politburo’s Resolution 16 and the National Assembly’s Resolution 54.
