Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday urged ministries and localities to closely watch prices, especially of essential goods, to prevent the recurrence of high inflation and to speed up economic recovery at the second monthly Government meeting of this year.

Keeping inflation at 7 per cent this year will be a tough job but within the capability of the Government, concluded the two-day meeting.

The optimistic conclusion was drawn from the economic performance of the first two months of 2010, said the head of the Government Office, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and the head of the Central Finance Administrative Committee, Le Duc Thuy, at a press conference held after meeting.

The consumer price index (CPI) in January and February saw no unusual signs, with growth similar to that of the first two months of previous years dating back to 2003, indicated the finance committee's assessment.

CPI rose 3.35 per cent in the last two months and stood 8.04 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

An MPI report, presented by Minister Vo Hong Phuc at the Government meeting, forecast that the Vietnamese economy would continue to recover at a growth higher than in previous years, particularly in industry and service sectors.

To turn it into a reality, Dung emphasised tasks for socio-economic development from now until the end of this year, urging the facilitation of production and business to promote development investment.

Industrial production value rose by 13.6 per cent in the first two months of this year compared to 2009, despite the week-long traditional Tet festival that affected production and business, said Phuc.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Viet Nam had reached 877,000 so far this year, up 27.4 per cent and the number of telephone subscribers rose 61.8 per cent to 138 million, he said.

However, socio-economic development over the past two months also saw weaknesses. Total export turnover reached only US$8.913 billion while import turnover was estimated at $10.658 billion, leading to a high trade deficit of $1.745 billion or 19.6 per cent of the total export turnover.

Also, a forest fire in Hoang Lien National Park in the northern provinces of Lao Cai and Lai Chau destroyed about 1,000ha of forests.

To meet this year's socio-economic targets adopted at the sixth session of the National Assembly (12th tenure), the Government asked ministries, branches and localities to focus on the comprehensive implementation of measures and programmes on macro-economic stability.

At the meeting, the Government gave its opinion on the MPI project on renewing and pushing economic restructuring for the 2011-20 period, and improving the capacity, effectiveness and competitiveness of the economy.

It also offered feedback to the Ministry of Construction's document on common planning for construction in Ha Noi through 2030 and a vision for 2050, and the State Appraisal Council's assessment of investment on the construction of the North-South express railway, as well as some draft laws and decrees.

Source: VNS