Government members said that the economy has recovered and grown continuously quarter by quarter, and GDP growth is predicted to surge from 3.14 percent of Q1 to 6.8 percent in Q4.

From this, the government decided to pass the interest rate subsidisation for medium and long term loans to expand business and production, according to the Decision No 443 and 497 that will be continued till December 31, 2010. However, the subsidised rate will be reduced from 4 percent (of the first demand stimulus package) to 2 percent and the decision has cut down the number of subjects for the subsidisation.

Those allowed to borrow short term loans pursuant to prime minister's Decision No 131 will continue to enjoy a subsidisation rate of 2 percent until Q1 of 2010 according to the approved second stimulation package.

Also, prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung has okayed Ministry of Finance's proposal to extend the CIT payment deadline till Q1 of 2010.

Phuc said, there is no information on proper value of the second demand stimulus package but the figure could be much lower than the first one worth 145 trillion dong that has been disbursed until the year end.

Government decided to control 2010 inflation at below two-digits, Phuc confirmed.

Notably, under the prime minister decided a pre-age 65 retire on the chair of Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group (Vinacomin) Doan Van Kien. First off, vice minister of industry and trade Le Duong Quang will take over the position of chair. Doan Van Kien previously was alleged to violate management regulations such as shortcomings in managing the mining and trading of coal, which caused the illegal coal mining in long term.

Nguoi Lao Dong - November 2, 2009

Vietnam industrial output rises slightly

Vietnam's industrial production rose in October for the third-consecutive month, but economists said Friday that they were not confident the trend would continue. "I am not reassured by this figure because I doubt its sustainability," senior independent economist Pham Chi Lan said.

Lan said the rise in industrial output was dependent on the government's billion-dollar stimulus package implemented this year.

Industrial output in October rose to 3.6 billion dollars in October, up 3.2 percent from September, and to 33.4 billion dollars for the first 10 months of the year, up 7 percent from the same period a year ago, General Statistical Office official Pham Tien Nam said Friday.

Those growth rates are lower than those recorded in previous years because of the global economic crisis. Vietnam's industrial output rose 14 to 17 percent in each of the previous three years.

Economist Le Dang Doanh said most of the growth stemmed from increased oil and coal production while manufacturing growth was more modest.

The country earned 4.8 billion dollars in exports in October, up 4.5 percent from September. Vietnam's trade deficit in the first 10 months of the year hit 8.8 billion dollars, down from 16.4 billion dollars over the same period last year.

Growth in its gross domestic product fell from 8.5 percent in 2007 to 6.2 percent last year. The government initially set a target for economic growth of 6.5 percent this year, but the sharp drop in production and exports forced it to readjust the target to 5 percent in May.

Deutsche Presse Agentur - November 2, 2009