Gov’t promises to continue to cut spending: official

July 21, 2011 | 17:37

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As its effort to reduce public spending in the first half of this year has shown results, the government has promised to remain thrifty in the second half, said Nguyen Dang Binh from the Ministry of Investment and Planning.

Binh, who is the deputy head of the ministry’s Department for National Economic Issues, told Tuoi Tre on Wednesday that the government’s effort to curb inflation by reducing public spending has yielded some positive results.

Binh said according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the government has reduced a total VND80.5 trillion ($4.027 billion) worth of public investments.

While some experts said the number is insignificant, Binh said it accounts for over 9 per cent of total social investments this year.

The reduction has had significant effects on inflation as the total social investments in the first half of this year have slipped to 38 per cent of GDP, compared to 48 per cent last year, Binh said.

Binh also emphasised the government’s firm determination to combat inflation by rejecting the demands of some localities and ministries to start new public investments.

In the second half of this year, the government has promised to monitor closely public expense reduction of state-owned enterprises, as well as their foreign debts, he said.

tuoi tre

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