Though the
consumer price index (CPI) increased sharply by 3.78 percent in the first two
months of the year, Ha Van Hien, Chair of the National Assembly’s Economics
Committee, when talking to the press on the sideline of the ongoing National
Assembly’s session, said the National Assembly does not intend to adjust the
CPI target of 7 percent set earlier for 2011.

Ha Van Hien, Chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee

The CPI of both Hanoi
and HCM City increased by more than two percent
in March. What do you think about the inflation rate in the first three months
of the year?

As the
inflation rate of the first two months of 2011 was relatively high, at 3.78
percent the Government has released Resolution 11 on the measures to curb
inflation, stabilize the macro economy and ensure social security.

Will the National Assembly adjust
the inflation rate target for 2011, when the actual CPI increase has nearly hit
the seven percent threshold?

Only two
months of the year have passed. Therefore, I don’t think that we need to adjust
the target at this moment. It is too early to say about adjusting economic
targets. It is really difficult to curb inflation in 2011, but we need to be
determined to fulfill the task, considering this the top priority in 2011.

With the
measures put forward in the Resolution 11, I hope that the situation will be
improved in the time to come. Relevant agencies need to strictly follow
necessary measures in order to reach the target. For example, banks must not
have the credit growth rate of higher than 20 percent this year. However, the
key now lies in the implementation of the measures. The scenario of 2010 should
not be repeated: we loosened monetary policies at the beginning of the year,
and then tightened the monetary policies at the end of the year. It is clear
that measures are clear and strong, but we still need a good implementation to
turn the measures into realistic.

I believe
that the measures will help. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the inflation rate was
curbed when the Government was determined to curb inflation.

In 2008, the Government decided to
cut down public investments, but result was not satisfactory. In 2011, we are
also determined to cut down public investments to curb inflation. Do you think
we will succeed in 2011?

It is
really not easy to cut down investments because the demand is really very high.
However, this is a must, because we need to curb inflation and stabilize macro
economy. The question now is how to cut. I think we should consider the capital
sources and then set quotas for localities and economic branches.

Tuyet Ngan