bet88 slotSocial protection policies in need of further improvement

bet88 slot pandemic has made it quite clear that many households include informal workers, women, bet88 slot extremely poor, or urban workers and are economically insecure, while social protection policies in Vietnam need to be further improved, World Bank (WB) experts told an online discussion entitled “A year of monitoring bet88 slot impact of Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam and Asia” held on October 26.

Vietnam’s social protection policies are considered to be modest, especially in income support for households, despite spending on public infrastructure and support for firms increasing since bet88 slot pandemic began.

Last year and this year, 0.3 per cent of GDP was provided to households as support, which did not actually include income support. Vietnam has low government assistance to households compared to Pacific Island countries. “Building a protection system that is more agile to respond to shocks like bet88 slot Covid-19 pandemic may be important for Vietnam,” said Ms. Lydia Kim, Consultant in bet88 slot East Asia & Pacific (EAP) Poverty and Equity Global Practice of bet88 slot WB.

Going forward, vaccinations are considered key to securing a healthier population for economic activity to return to normal, but bet88 slot most important factor is bet88 slot role of bet88 slot Vietnamese Government. This role has been seen through a host of activities and support being provided through monetary policy to businesses by bet88 slot State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). However, in terms of fiscal policy, bet88 slot government could definitely do much more in terms of social protection elements, according to Ms. Dorsati Madani, Senior Economist at bet88 slot WB in Vietnam.

Many support programs from bet88 slot government have been introduced since bet88 slot pandemic began, but they are considered relatively modest in terms of revenue. According to Ms. Madani, in 2021, bet88 slot support package from bet88 slot government was around 2 to 2.5 per cent of GDP. Compared to bet88 slot rest of bet88 slot Asia Pacific, this figure is not very high, especially for social protection.

In order for Vietnam to move ahead and become an upper-middle-income economy and a high-income economy in bet88 slot future, it is important for it to have a system that acts as a social protection system that provides for any part of bet88 slot population that may unfortunately fall upon hard times because of not only crises like Covid-19 but also health and other issues.

Ms. Madani emphasized that one element that is really important for bet88 slot country going forward is that bet88 slot government right now has bet88 slot fiscal space, as implied by bet88 slot figure from bet88 slot Ministry of Finance (MoF) that bet88 slot debt-to-GDP ratio right now is around 45 per cent, while bet88 slot limit established by bet88 slot National Assembly is 60 per cent. “I think there is room for bet88 slot government to consider larger and more sustained packages to help bet88 slot economy support bet88 slot population,” she added.

In addition, to improve bet88 slot social protection system, it is also necessary to go forward with creating a digital platform where people can be identified and registered quickly for many services. “Digital platforms would facilitate not only identifying bet88 slot needy in times of crisis but also reach bet88 slot right people and provide transparency, clarity, and speed,” Ms. Madani said. These elements are going to play a role for bet88 slot country not only in bet88 slot short term but also in bet88 slot medium and long terms, to where Vietnam wants to be five to ten years down bet88 slot line.

Moreover, it’s also important to look at institutional issues that are holding back investment as well as to reform public investment management, for greater efficiency and transparency. “bet88 slot funding is there, potentially, but institutional reforms are needed to strengthen bet88 slot system of bet88 slot government to modernize it for bet88 slot future,” Ms. Madani said.