deal with power shortage in the remaining months of this year,
according to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
The PM made the statement at the cabinet’s September meeting on
September 30, which discussed the nation’s socio-economic performance in
the past nine months and socio-economic tasks in the fourth quarter.
PM
Dung said he will soon issue Instructions on solutions to control
prices and stabilize the market from now to the year-end and early 2011.
Putting
the emphasis on the close connection between prices and monetary and
credit policies, the PM underscored the need to continue keeping stable
the prime interest rate.
He asked relevant ministries and
agencies to be proactive and flexible in executing monetary policies in
service of economic growth, not letting any price fever of essential
goods, especially medicine and milk, occur.
To tackle power
shortage, PM Dung asked the electricity sector, especially the
Electricity of Vietnam to take drastic measures to ensure sufficient
power in both short and long terms.
He requested the sector to
quickly speed up construction and commissioning of power plants along
with buying power from neighbouring countries and regulating power
resources appropriately.
At this meeting, the cabinet members
discussed reports on the country’s socio-economic performance over
September and the past nine months presented by ministries of planning
and investment, finance, and industry and trade, and forecast the future
national and global economic situation.
They agreed that the country’s national economy moved positively over the past nine months with GDP reaching 6.52 percent.
Exports
in nine months were estimated to rake in 51.5 billion USD, rising 23.2
percent over the same period in 2009 and nearly quadrupling the yearly
goal of over 6 percent set by the National Assembly.
Trade
deficit continued to be narrowed to stand at 8.58 billion USD, which
accounted for 16.7 percent of export value, or the lowest level in the
past years.
The cabinet members were concerned about an increase
of 1.31 percent in consumer price index (CPI) in September, which made
CPI grow 6.46 percent compared to December, 2009 and 8.64 percent year
on year.
Also at this meeting, the cabinet members listened and
gave opinions to reports on Vinashin’s business and production
performance, land use plans for the 2011-2015 period and to 2020, and a
summary of government members’ opinions on a draft decree to replace
Decree 62/2006/ND-CP on sanctions against administrative violations in
the maritime sector./.
