Vietnam eyes $14.8 bln stimulus package

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung proposed the package at the extraordinary National Assembly session Tuesday morning.

It includes a fiscal policy package of VND291 trillion, from which 82 percent would come directly from state coffers.

Fiscal policy packages will cover government bond issuance, delaying deadlines in taxes and fees for businesses and supporting worker rent.

Another part of the stimulus package is VND46 trillion worth of monetary policy to reduce loan interest rates by at least 0.5-1 percentage points for two years.

The government also plans to spend an additional VND60 trillion on upgrading the healthcare system, and anti-pandemic expenses. It plans to raise VND10 trillion from outside state coffers.

Dung said the scale of the stimulus package is “large enough” and is pointed at the right group of people.

The package is designed to be absorbed quickly to create new growth momentum with the aim of achieving GDP expansion of 6.5-7 percent a year on average in five years, he added.

To enable this package the government is set to up overspending to 5.08 percent of GDP this year.

This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points, or VND102.8 trillion, from the spending plan approved by the National Assembly.

Direct payment obligations could increase by 25 percent from the approved plan for the 2021-2025 period.

Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said the government needs to be more specific in its support policies.

Lawmakers are set to discuss the proposal in small groups in the afternoon.