HANOI: Vietnam's prime minister admitted on Monday that his government had
made mistakes in its stewardship of the troubled economy, in the latest bout of
self-criticism by the secretive Communist regime.
Scandals, inefficiencies and
major losses at state-run giants such as shipbuilder Vinashin have dented
public confidence, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told the opening session of
the month-long National Assembly.
"I recognise my political
responsibility and my faults," he said, citing Vinashin by name. "We
have learned our lesson."
He warned parliamentarians that
economic growth was likely to be just 5.2 per cent for 2012 - the slowest rate
in 13 years. The government had previously targeted growth of up to 6.5 per
cent for this year.
"Vietnam's economy still has
many limitations and weaknesses - the macro-economic situation is not good,
inflation may rise again, toxic debts are increasing," he said.
Dung, 62, escaped punishment at a
key Communist Party meeting last week over a recent string of scandals that
have touched the country's leadership.
But in an attempt to deflect
increasing online criticism, the party issued an unusual rebuke against its own
performance.
Experts say Dung's political
rivals, notably Communist Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong
Tan Sang, seem to be using the crisis to try to reduce the power of the prime
minister.
Dung, a former central bank
governor whose second five-year term was approved by the communist-controlled
parliament in July 2011, is said to have become the country's most powerful
prime minister ever.
Seen as a moderniser when first
appointed, he pushed for rapid economic growth and relied on state-owned giants
to drive the economy.
But the near-collapse of
scandal-tainted Vinashin in 2010 put the spotlight on the financial troubles of
the state-owned companies.
The arrest in August this year of
a disgraced multi-millionaire banker seen as an ally of Dung further shook
investor confidence in the country.
Vietnam is now grappling with
slowing economic growth, resurgent inflation, falling foreign direct investment
and rising fears about toxic debts in the fragile banking system.
Dung said the government's top
priority for 2013 was to stabilise the macro-economy and keep inflation --
which hit 23 per cent in August last year but has since fallen to single digits
- under control.
He warned that "the
Vietnamese economy will still have many difficulties in 2013," but said
the government was targeting 5.5 per cent economic growth for that year and
wanted to keep inflation to eight per cent or less.
Dung took aim at online
newspapers and blogs that have published what he called "negative
information" about the economic woes, calling for those who "take
advantage of the Internet to sabotage the country" to be punished.
Under Dung, authorities have
tried to crack down on bloggers with a series of harsh jail sentences.
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