The meeting was attended by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh; Deputy Prime Ministers Tran Hong Ha, Ho Duc Phoc, Bui Thanh Son, and Mai Van Chinh; Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung; and leaders of central ministries and agencies.

Officials noted that the intensifying conflict in the Middle East has directly impacted the global economy, raising oil and energy prices, disrupting transportation and trade, and fueling inflation risks.

Although Vietnam’s economic ties with the Middle East are limited, its economy has nonetheless been affected, especially in areas like shipping and import-export.

Prime Minister Chinh emphasized the importance of strategic readiness and warned against being caught off guard. He called on ministries, localities, and businesses to maintain a proactive stance in the face of global volatility.

“The situation has grown more complex due to developments in the Middle East, affecting global growth, pricing, exchange rates, capital flows, freight and logistics costs, and supply chains,” he said. “These disruptions may pose difficulties for business operations and shrink consumer demand in major markets.”

The prime minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to steadfastly pursue set goals while drawing from past achievements and experiences in managing unexpected crises.

He urged all levels of government and the business sector to rejuvenate traditional growth drivers like investment, exports, and consumption, while simultaneously promoting emerging drivers such as science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

Synchronizing monetary and fiscal policies

To stimulate both supply and demand, Chinh emphasized the need for close, effective coordination between monetary and fiscal policies. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc will continue overseeing this area.

On fiscal policy, he stressed the importance of continuing tax and fee reductions, simplifying procedures to support businesses and citizens, boosting economic activity, and ensuring job creation. At the same time, he advocated for increased revenue, prudent spending, and cuts to unnecessary expenditures = particularly recurrent expenses.

Public investment disbursement should be accelerated, with government spending leading private investment to unlock all available societal resources, especially in transportation, energy, and logistics infrastructure. Spending must be efficient, with nonessential costs trimmed.

Regarding monetary policy, Chinh called for vigilant, flexible, timely, and effective management to control inflation and maintain exchange rate stability. He urged banks to adjust interest rates reasonably to support business expansion and ease capital access, and called on financial institutions to be more supportive of the private sector and the economy at large.

Interest rate policies, he said, must strike a balance between growth stimulation and business support. Credit expansion should be controlled but targeted toward productive sectors, particularly deep processing, agriculture, and exports. He also instructed authorities to prevent speculative practices in gold and foreign currency markets.

The prime minister also highlighted the need to secure food, energy, and information security. He directed Petrovietnam to increase oil and gas reserves and ordered Petrolimex and Petrovietnam to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply without hoarding or price manipulation. EVN was instructed to guarantee uninterrupted electricity for all economic and consumer activities and complete new power projects by August 19. Food corporations must stabilize supply and pricing by actively buying and selling reserves.

On the local level, Chinh called on provinces and cities to swiftly organize their new two-tier government model to ensure seamless operations starting July 1. He urged them to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expand markets, monitor prices, combat counterfeits, stimulate consumption, and support enterprise growth = especially through the implementation of Resolution 68 on private sector development.

Finally, the prime minister emphasized that the administrative reform process must not overshadow core and emergency tasks. He instructed localities to simplify procedures, promote digital administrative services, reduce compliance costs and delays for businesses and citizens, and actively promote trade, investment, and tourism.

The Vinh