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Socio-economic situation in April and the first four months

May 23, 2014 7:15 PM GMT+7

1. Macroeconomic and market stabilization and inflation control

- Inflation was put under control and consumer price index (CPI) in April saw a slight rise over the previous month.

April’s CPI increased 0.08% over that of March, in which the highest decrease was seen in the group of housing and construction materials, by 0.56%; followed by food by 0.26%, and postal and communication service by 0.14%.

Slight increases were recorded in such groups as medicine and healthcare service, by 0.04% (in which: healthcare service up only by 0.01%); culture, recreation and tourism by 0.02% while the highest rises were posted by transportation, by 0.33%, and food, by 0.27%.

In comparison with December 2013, April’s CPI increased 0.88% and the average CPI in the first four months of this year rose by 4.73%.

- Import and export: total export turnover in the first four months was estimated to reach US$45.74 billion, increasing 16.9% over the same period last year while US$45.05 billion was estimated to spend on imports, a 13.7% year-on-year rise. Trade deficit was about US$684 million, equal to 1.5% of total export turnover.

- Budget collection and expenditure: total budget revenue was estimated at VND236.09 trillion (US$11 billion), accounting for 30.2% of the yearly plan (compared to VND201.4 trillion (US$9.46 billion) of the same period last year, accounting for 24.7% of the yearly plan). Total budget expenditure was estimated at VND266.17 trillion (US$12.5 billion), making up 26.4% of the yearly estimate (compared to VND258 trillion, making up 26.4% of the yearly estimate).

- Registered and disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) was on the rise. By April 20, FDI was estimated at US$4 billion, a 6.7% year-on-year rise; registered capital was about US$4.86 billion, a 40.9% drop. ODA disbursement was estimated at US$510 million, a 6% year-on-year rise (compared to US$464 million of FDI and US$46 million of non-refundable aid last year).

2.Implementation of economic growth targets

- Industrial production saw growth: April’s industrial production index (IIP) was estimated to increase by 6% over the same period last year, up 1.2% over the previous month. IIP of the first four months grew by 5.4%, a 5% year-on-year rise; of which the textile industry increased 22.4%; leather production and related products rose by 19% and electricity, computer and optical production increased 16.5%.

- Agricultural, forestry and fishery production continued to develop thanks to fine weather and controlled diseases.

Rice production: Over 3.1 million ha of winter-spring rice crop was cultivated, equal to 99.4% of the area of the same period last year. The southern provinces had 1,473.6 thousand ha of winter-spring rice harvested, equivalent to 87.1% of the same period last year while 524.2 thousand ha of summer-autumn rice was cultivated, equivalent to 62.4% of the same period last year.

Cattle and livestock farming saw little changes as few incidents of natural disasters or diseases occurred. The herd of buffaloes nationwide saw a fall of 1.5-2% in April; that of cows decreased by 1-1.5%; that of livestock fell 1-1.5%; meanwhile, the herd of pigs rose by 0.5-1% compared to the same period last year
Forestry: in the first four months, 19,000 ha were afforested, a 29.3% year-on-year rise; 81.7 million trees were planted in non-centralized forestry projects, increasing 0.1%; 1,635.5 thousand cubic meter of timber were extracted, a 5.9% rise while 10.5 million tons of wood were collected for fuel, increasing by 2.5%.

About 423.2 thousand tons of seafood were yielded in April, a 3.3% year-on-year rise, including 190.6 thousand tons from aquaculture, a 1.8% year-on-year increase, and 232.6 thousand tons was netted, rising 4.5% over the same period last year.

Services: Total retail sales of goods and services in the first four months were estimated to rise 10.6% compared to the same period last year. 3.07 million international visitors went to the country in the last four months, a 27.3% year-on-year rise. The transportation of goods increased by 4.3%; goods circulation rose by 2.1% over the same period last year. The number of passengers transported was estimated to rise 5.5% and the volume of transit passengers was estimated to increase 6.2%.

3.Social welfare, health care, culture and others

- Employment: It was estimated that about 141,080 people were employed in April, in which 130,000 people got employed locally and 11,082 people went abroad to work. Over the past four months, 487,359 people got jobs, including 453,000 were employed in the country and 34,359 went abroad to work.

- Social welfare and health care: rice aid was regularly maintained to ensure that no one was hungry. The Government and the Ministry of Health focused on fighting measles. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issued a circular to urge the Departments of Health in provinces and cities, as well as hospitals to intensify efforts to cope with measles. Measles vaccination were implemented and closely monitored in provinces and cities with low rates of vaccinated children.

By April 27, the country recorded 3,716 cases of measles among 10,794 suspected cases in 61 out of the 63 cities and provinces. The disease has so far claimed 25 lives while the number of fatalities from measles complications has been 127.

- Transportation safety and order, fire and explosion prevention:

According to the brief report by the Ministry of Public Security and the Maritime Administration, from March 16 to April 15, 870 traffic accidents nationwide killed 746 and injured 620 people.Compared to the previous month, April saw an increase in the number of accidents and severity: fatalities increased by 137, a 22.5% rise and injuries were 184, a 42.2% increase. The fatalities fell by 9, equal to 1.2% compared to the same period last year and the number of injured people rose by 82, a 15.2% year-on-year increase.

Fire and explosion: In April, 232 fires and explosions happened across the country, three cases more than the previous month, a 1.3% rise, causing economic damages estimated at VND77.6 billion; of which, 226 fires, an year on year rise of 4%, took the lives of four people and left teo others injured; six explosions killed three and injured one, triggering small economic damage.