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Laos: High Number Is Not Sustainable, Prime Minister Says

  • Oct 17, 2017

(KPL) Government has stopped setting an economic growth target that is beyond the actual competence of the country, based on unexpected incomes and intention to achieve a very high economic growth rate as this way of growth planning is either unsustainable or unrealistic, according to Premier.

“This is to sustain the macro economy and prevent more challenges from being caused thus creating favourable conditions for addressing economic fragility issue over years to come,” Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told the 4th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly on Monday.   

Over the past years, the national economic growth target was set at a very high level.

At the last ordinary session in October last year, Prime Minister Thongloun proposed a revised plan adjusting a national economic growth target to 7% from 7.5%, then the annual economic growth target set in the 8th five-year National Socio-economic Development Plan for 2016-2020.

Prime Minister said that such a high growth target was not realistic and unsustainable.   

“In general, our national socio-economic development target for 2017, to be exact, the adjusted target the National Assembly approved at its 2nd Ordinary Session in October last year, has been achieved as planned by the government. Though the government has failed to fully achieve the economic growth of 7%, fundamentally, the economy is in a constantly growing pace and making positive changes. This reflects in the efforts the government made to promote the rule of law in public governance, efforts to limit and eventually prevent the debts that result from implementing projects not approved by the National Assembly,” said Prime Minister.  

A report given by Prime Minister Thongloun on the first day of the 4th Ordinary Session also highlighted constraints the government has identified in the past one and half years of its nation administration.

These included the government failure to complete all targets set in the revenue collection plan, the budgetary spending plan, slow debt payment of state investment projects, limited provision of loans by commercial banks to businesses, especially small and medium enterprises to promote their production and service as well as the slower than expected restructuring of state enterprises with poor business performance and the ineffective exercise of rights and authority by sectors and local authorities against corrupt and incompetent officials.
Source: http://kpl.gov.la/En/Detail.aspx?id=28862