National Assembly discusses socio-economic issues, discusses ways to combat waste

(Dan Tri) - Infrastructure development, salary reform, social housing development and increasing apartment prices... are hot issues that National Assembly delegates have mentioned when discussing socio-economic issues at group meetings.

On May 29, the National Assembly spent a whole day discussing the socio-economic development plan, the State budget, and the work of practicing thrift and fighting waste in 2023; the results of implementing national goals on gender equality in 2023. This content will be broadcast live on television and radio for voters nationwide to follow. Reporting on the socio-economic situation in 2023 at the opening session on May 20, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai summarized the supplementary assessment of 2023, identifying the positive and optimistic situation in all fields. The Deputy Prime Minister said that some targets were higher than the numbers reported to the National Assembly at the 6th session (October 2023), such as the GDP growth rate reaching 5.05%; the size of the economy reaching 430 billion USD - belonging to the group of upper middle-income countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai presented the Government's report on the socio-economic situation in 2023 and the plan for 2024 (Photo: Pham Thang).

Notably, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, by the end of 2023, we have set aside about VND 680,000 billion to implement the new salary policy. According to the Government's assessment, the socio-economic infrastructure has been strongly developed, especially important and key national transport and energy infrastructure projects. Of which, the Dong Dang - Tra Linh, Huu Nghi - Chi Lang expressway projects have been started, the expansion of Terminal T2 - Noi Bai International Airport has been started; the Dien Chau - Bai Vot section (30km), Cam Lam - Vinh Hao (79km) has been put into operation, bringing the total number of kilometers of expressway put into operation to more than 2,000km. The report synthesizing the opinions of National Assembly deputies discussing in the socio-economic group clearly stated that many opinions highly appreciated the efforts of the Government, the Prime Minister, central and local agencies. In addition, many opinions highly appreciated the role of the Government and the Prime Minister in proactively, flexibly, and promptly managing and handling issues to maintain the country's stable development in the recent difficult context. Regarding the issue of salary reform, the opinions of National Assembly deputies reflected that despite the policy of salary reform, many agencies are facing a situation of reduced salaries, not meeting the requirements of labor regeneration. Deputies also pointed out the problem in principle, such as the spirit of the Central Resolution that the reformed salary must increase, not decrease. But in reality, there are 34 units and industries with special allowances (banks, treasury, customs, etc.), if calculated according to the plan to remove special allowances, calculated according to job positions, salaries will be reduced. Therefore, agencies are studying the calculation in the direction of not calling it the basic salary but stipulating a reference level. Accordingly, from July 1st, salaries will increase based on the current level by about 25-30%, then other tasks will be done to be reasonable and consistent.

National Assembly delegates attend a meeting in the Dien Hong meeting room (Photo: Pham Thang).

In reality, there are opinions suggesting that there should be many solutions to stimulate domestic tourists, such as: reducing domestic airfares, reducing gasoline and oil prices during holidays, Tet and peak seasons; increasing many tourism products to stimulate domestic tourism and consumption. Regarding the development of social housing, National Assembly deputies commented that social housing is both redundant and insufficient. Meanwhile, the cost of living in social housing apartments is too high compared to workers' income. Deputies also reflected on the reality of tens of thousands of resettlement houses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City while people lack housing, wasting public financial resources. Deputies suggested clarifying the responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations and individuals, and finding solutions so that abandoned houses can be put into use soon, avoiding waste. With the recent sharp increase in apartment prices in Hanoi, National Assembly deputies attributed part of the cause to the "price manipulation and price inflation" by a group of brokers and speculators. Therefore, some deputies suggested that the Ministry of Construction, together with relevant agencies, conduct inspections to detect signs of irregularities and violations in order to handle and stabilize the market.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/quoc-hoi-thao-luan-ve-kinh-te-xa-hoi-ban-cach-chong-lang-phi-20240528222131063.htm