Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers speech at the Government's monthly meeting in Ha Noi yesterday. — Photo VGP

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the macro economy remained stable and inflation was tamed in the first nine months of this year.

The national consumer price index (CPI) in September increased by 0.54 per cent month-on-month and 3.14 per cent against December 2015, the ministry said.

Of note, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the January-September period grew 5.93 per cent thanks to a hike of 6.4 per cent recorded in the third quarter.

More than 81,450 businesses were established in the reviewed period with accumulated capital of over VND629 trillion (US$28.3 billion), up 19 per cent in the number of enterprises and 50 per cent in capital investment.

To reach the growth rate of 6.5 per cent, it is imperative to generate a 7.7 per cent increase in the last quarter, which requires greater efforts by agencies and localities, the ministry said.

It predicted that the domestic purchasing power, as well as the tourism and farming sectors, will be upbeat in the last three months.

Commenting on the country's socio-economic situation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Cabinet members, sectors and localities have endeavoured to remove hindrances to production and businesses and adopt a lot of policies to be welcomed by businesses and investors.

He then urged each Cabinet member to do more to create stronger changes in tackling bad debts, public debts, weak credit organisations, loss-making State enterprises, and stagnation in State-invested construction.

In 2017 and the first year of any working term, each ministry and each sector needs to craft its action plan which should identify challenges and causes precisely, and provide solutions to making breakthroughs in their assigned fields, he noted.

Regarding the management of public assets, he assigned the Ministry of Finance to work on a model to manage the assets in line with market rules.

The State Bank of Viet Nam should study measures to deal with credit organisations that pose a threat to the health of the banking system following the market principles, he said.

The restructuring of State-owned enterprises should be sped up and the divestment of State companies must ensure transparency to bring the maximal benefit for the State, he stressed.

The leader affirmed that among short-term measures for the rest of the year, "stabilising the macro-economy is a consistent policy to spur sustainable development."

He requested ministries and sectors not raise electricity prices while adjusting the prices of essential commodities and healthcare services appropriately.

The leader asked relevant agencies in the finance and budget fields to work harder to manage overdue tax below 5 per cent of the tax collection in 2015, together with combating tax evasion.

Ministries and localities should quickly deploy the payment of compensation for those who were affected by the maritime environment incident in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and ThuaThien-Hue provinces.

For exports, he requested all ministries, in particularly the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review export measures, manage trade deficits and exploit the domestic market maximally.

Following the meeting, the Chairman of the Government's Office, Minister Mai Tien Dung and representatives of ministries and sectors participated in the Government's regular press conference, clarifying issues on the prosecution of Trinh Xuan Thanh, fish deaths in Ha Noi's West lake, and the dismissal of the Editor-in-Chief of a news website, among other issues.

News violations

Earlier on Monday, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)  asked the Petrotimes online site to revoke the press card of Nguyen Nhu Phong and return it to the ministry's Press Department before October 12.

The ministry decided to temporarily suspend operations of petrotimes.vn for three months for "violations in journalism activities."

When the suspension ends, the ministry will consider the case and make a decision on whether or not the newspaper can continue running its online version, following Press Law regulations.

Nguyen Nhu Phong, born in 1955, was earlier deputy editor-in-chief of the An Ninh The Gioi (World Security) newspaper and editor-in-chief of the Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Public Security) newspaper before he became editor-in-chief of the Nang Luong Moi (New Energy) newspaper, mouthpiece of the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Association.

Nang Luong Moi newspaper's online version petrotimes.vn was licensed and launched in 2011. Phong was Editor-in-chief of the website since the launch.

In a related instruction, MIC yesterday asked press agencies to review the issuance of documents and cards that could easily be confused with journalist's cards.

A representative of the ministry said many reporters and newspaper collaborators presented documents and cards which were thought to be press cards while working with companies and organisations. Some reportedly used these documents and cards for illegal purposes, affecting the reputation of other journalists who displayed work ethics. — VNS