HANOI – Saving businesses, developing the market and settling bad debts are the
main tasks Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highlighted at an online meeting
between the Government and localities on Tuesday.
The two-day meeting will continue
today with a focus on the key measures to achieve the socio-economic and State
budget targets for 2013.
When presenting a draft
resolution on solutions to remove difficulties for production and business,
support the market and tackle bad debts, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai
placed an emphasis on inventory reduction.
As per the draft resolution, the
localities with high volumes of unsold property products should reduce the use
of their budget funds for development of new resettlement housing projects.
Instead, the budget capital should be used to buy appropriate commercial houses
to serve resettlement or turn them into low-cost houses for sale or for lease.
The central bank is asked to set
aside VND20-40 trillion for refinancing with reasonable interest rates and a
maximum term of ten years to help State-run commercial banks serve home loan
borrowers.
Besides, a 50% land rent cut in
2013 and 2014 is proposed. Investors will also enjoy a land rent payment
extension for up to 24 months depending on their sales performance.
The Government agreed with the
Ministry of Finance on the proposed solutions to rescue businesses. They
include a corporate income tax rate of 20% for small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) and a special rate of 10% on earnings from low-cost housing
trading starting from July 1, 2013.
In addition, a 50% value added
tax (VAT) reduction from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 is proposed for low-cost
housing investment and trading.
Labor-intensive enterprises and
SMEs should enjoy a six-month extension in corporate income tax and VAT
payments in the first quarter of 2013 and three-month extensions in the
following two quarters.
As for bad debts, the Government
requested relevant agencies to complete and submit the model of the national
asset management company so that the Government could issue a decree in January
and report it to the Politburo.
Specifically, the finance
ministry will be in charge of drawing up a plan for issuance of government debt
instruments to handle bad debts. In addition, the ministry will study and
submit policies and regulations on tax exemption or reduction and charges
related to the purchase and sale of bad debts and collateral for loans at
credit institutions.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh
stated the scheme for weak bank restructuring was underway and bad debt issue
was under control. Only one of the nine banks classified as weak is still
waiting for the central bank to consider an appropriate restructuring scheme.
To reach the macroeconomic
targets for 2013, especially GDP growth, inflation control and export growth,
the Government will direct the central bank to practice prudence in the
monetary policy with interest rates consistent with macroeconomic developments,
overcome shortcomings in management of the gold market and basically complete
the restructuring of credit institutions.
Regarding the fiscal policy
focusing on the fight against tax evasion, tax arrears and transfer pricing,
Ninh suggested local governments to increase tax collection by 3-5%.
From now to 2015, the Government
will announce budget capital allocations early so that localities can balance
their capital sources and avoid dispersed investment. However, localities must
contribute to the settlement of capital construction debt, he said.
Minister of Planning and
Investment Bui Quang Vinh reported the total State budget revenue in 2012 was
estimated at VND714.5 trillion, 0.14% higher than the estimate and up 5.3%
compared to 2011. The total budget spending is around VND904 trillion, 0.11%
higher than the estimate and up 14.6% against 2011.
Budget deficit stays at 4.8% and
GDP growth is put at 5.03%.
Ngoc Lan - The Saigon Times Daily
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