Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has asked the Finance Ministry to execute policies favourable for ꦫbusinesses, thereby improving national economic competitivenesꦡs, in light of plummeting oil prices.

The ministry forecast that the economy will grow by 6.7 percent, inflation below 5 percent, and exports up 10 percent in 2016. With the upcoming birth of the ASEAN Economic Community and the signing of free trade agreements, Vietnam is forecast to meet both advantages and challenges, including uncertain weather conditions, epidemic outbreaks, and risks in the global financial market. The government has submitted to the National Assembly a report on State budget balance for 2016, including a revenue of more than 1,000 trillion VND (45.4 billion USD), 54.5 trillion VND (2.4 billion USD) of which is sourced from crude oil. The estimated spending is over 1.270 trillion VND (57.7 billion USD), said Deputy Finance Minister Vu Thi Mai, adding that as of December 28, the State revenue was approximately 957 trillion VND (43.5 billion USD), or 105 percent of the estimate. However, she also raised concern over smuggling and trade fraud, transfer pricing, wasteful allocation of funding, and slow progress of divestment and equitisation. The Deputy PM, for his part, said a 7-8 percent increase in budget revenue collection is enough to offset deficit due to crude oil price slump. He urged the ministry to overhaul financial mechanism in its units, regulate prices in market mechanism and continue financial reform. Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung, who was present at the event, directed a number of tasks for 2016, including speeding up restructuring of State-owned enterprises, improving the efficiency of using State budget, contributing to stablising the macro-economy, among others.-VNA