Legislator Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong of Ha Noi wanted a 9 percent growth rate for the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) next year and not the 8.5-9 percent most proposed, which is for her “too general”.

As to the increasing inflation, reflected in a surge of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by over 8 percent last month, Le Thanh of Ho Chi Minh City proposed the government curb the index increase to less than 7 percent.

Legislator Tran Du Lich, also from HCMC, suggested a less specific number, however, saying the CPI should be simply be below the economic growth rate, not fixed – his point apparently being that the nation should target “real growth”, a growth rate exceeding inflation, instead of merely “nominal growth”.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had earlier said that since Vietnam, like any other nation, is subject to market mechanisms, prices cannot be dictated by government but must rise and fall depending on market factors ranging from raw material prices, exchange rates and labor productivity to production costs, all of which government can neither anticipate nor macro-manage.

Previously, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc called for an “ideal CPI of 8 percent”, while Le Quoc Dung, vice-chairman of the legislative National Assembly’s Economic Committee called for the index to be kept under 6 percent to ensure sustainable development.

According to the Vietnamese General Statistics Office (GSO), food prices last month rose nearly 16 percent year-on-year while housing and construction material prices jumped 11.72 percent.

Legislators are also concerned about the country’s escalating trade deficit which has reached a record US$8.9 billion so far this year. Vietnam’s trade deficit stood at only $5.09 billion for all of 2006.

With the figure for 2008 is projected at $10.8-10.9 billion, lawmakers proposed intensifying import substitution - replacing imports with domestic production - to tackle the problem.

In other issues debated at the session, deputy Dang Van Khanh of Ha Noi wanted government to expedite procedures in issuing land ownership certificates.

Tran Thi Quoc Khanh, also from the capital, called for speedier handling of public complaints but also for punishing those inciting others to lodge groundless grievances.

Meanwhile, the judicial sector is seriously short of staff.

Chief of the Supreme People’s Court Truong Hoa Binh said he needs over 700 judges, especially for the northern mountainous and highland regions and proposes raising judges’ tenure to ten years from the current five and extending their retirement age by five years, all to tackle the shortage.

Source: SGGP.