The Ministry of Transport expects to draw out some VND7 trillion (US$286.6 million) to pay off defaulted loans from Korean and German financers in the construction of the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh earlier this month signed a decision on setting up six task forces headed by four Deputy Prime Ministers and two Ministers.

Public debt is anticipated to increase rapidly in 2022-2024, exceeding the VND4 quadrillion threshold and getting closer to VND5 quadrillion.

VietNamNet Bridge – The time it takes Nguyen Phuong Hoai, a resident of Ha Noi’s Nam Tu Liem District, to get to her hometown in Ninh Binh Province has been reduced by half in the last four years

VietNamNet Bridge - While economist warn that state-owned enterprises’ debts will pose a threat to national financial security, SOEs say that the big debts have been unavoidable.

Vietnam has borrowed $4-5 billion a year in the last 10 years, and the public debt has nearly hit the ceiling. However, the country will continue borrowing because it needs capital for development and investment.

 VietNamNet Bridge – National Assembly (NA) deputies are concerned about soaring public debts.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Debts owed by State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to both domestic and foreign creditors are too big for the Government to shoulder, especially at a time when public debts are posing a big headache.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s public debts are poised to reach 63% of GDP late this year and 64% next year, just a stone’s throwing from the threshold of 65% deemed by the National Assembly

Repeatedly affirming that its public debt is still within safe bounds, the government has till now never displayed any worries when presenting reports about the matter before the National Assembly. But the latest report is different.

The Prime Minister has issued Decision 447 on borrowing and repayment plans in 2014. Limits on government-guaranteed loans and medium and long-term foreign loans of enterprises and organizations in 2014 are also mentioned in the decision.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vo Tri Thanh, deputy director of the Central Institute For Economic Management, spoke to the Sai Gon Economic Times on the impacts of the TPP and the FTA with the European Union.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Economists have warned that Vietnam’s public debts would be no longer within the safety line after 2015, when it has to reserve 1/3 of the annual budget to pay debts.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Prime Minister has ratified the 2013-2015 medium-term debt management programme in a bid to ensure the safety of public debt, according to the Vietnam Government Portal.

 VietNamNet Bridge – In 2012, twenty-five out of Vietnam’s 80 export markets recorded a turnover of more than US$1 billion, 17 markets a turnover of more than US$2 billion, and nine markets a turnover exceeding US$3 billion.