The Government’s regular press briefing was held in Hanoi on May 5, with the Director of the Government Office, Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the chair.

Most of the journalists showed an interest in issues related to investment in social development, the value of industrial production, the trade deficit and adjustments to the minimum salary level.

Due to a sharp increase in the prices of some products, the country’s import turnover for the last four months reached nearly US$25 billion, up 35 percent over the same period last year, raising the import surplus level for the reviewed period to US$4.5 billion.

The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Le Danh Vinh underlined the need to take long-term drastic measures to control trade deficit by boosting production and exports and limiting the import of consumer goods.

When replying to a question about whether or not the increase of VND 80,000 in minimum salary level will send the prices of consumer goods soaring, Deputy Minster of Finance Tran Van Hieu said that this is in line with salary reforms adopted by the Government and will have no impact on the price of products.

Mr Phuc said that to reach all the targets set for the first half of this year, people need to make a greater effort to carry out the Government’s policies aimed at ensuring macroeconomic stability, curbing inflation to speed up socio-economic development.