The National Assembly (NA) will discuss the VAT reduction from the existing 10 per cent rate to 8 per cent on June 1 before receiving an approval from NA deputies in a resolution slated for June 24, the last day of the ongoing fifth session. The VAT cut proposed by the government is set to be applied from July 1 to the end of 2023 for all types of goods and services currently subject to a 10 per cent VAT rate. The initiative is part of Resolution No.43/2022/QH15 released early last year on fiscal and monetary policies supporting the Programme on Socioeconomic Recovery and Development. Consumers of many types can benefit from VAT cuts, photo Le Toan Under Resolution 43, the 2 per cent cut was applied last year for goods and services subject to a 10 per cent rate, except for various goods and services such as telecommunications, IT, financial and banking activities, securities and insurance, trading of real estate, metal and precast metal products, mining products … [Read more...] about Support to continue in form of VAT cut
Global minimum corporate income tax
Investors wanted for social housing efforts
Speaking at a May 19 conference on plans to develop one million social houses for lower-income people and workers by 2030, Minister of Construction Le Thanh Nghi said that the ministry would coordinate with authorities to ensure it achieved its social housing targets. The ministry (MoC) has completed the draft amended Law on Housing, which has been approved by the government and submitted to the National Assembly for approval. It is hoped that the amended law will draw policies for social housing development and take effect from 2024, including planning and reserving land for social housing development, selection of project investors, and procedures for implementation. As of Q1 2023, Vietnam has completed just over 300 social housing projects in urban areas and worker housing projects in industrial zones (IZs), with nearly 156,000 units in total. About 400 projects are still planned to be built, with a total scale of 454,000 apartments. However, demand has not been fully met. … [Read more...] about Investors wanted for social housing efforts
Preparedness crucial in safeguarding banking sector
Factors potentially triggering the turmoil include monetary tightening, weak economic conditions, mismanagement, loss of confidence, maturity and currency mismatches, as well as instances of outright fraud and criminal activities. Most banks are resilient and avoid such difficulties -- but not all. Consequently, financial authorities must maintain preparedness to intervene whenever necessary, all while avoiding unintended consequences that could potentially sow the seeds of future banking crises. Global banking stress The current banking turmoil is largely due to the cycle of monetary tightening. Since early 2022, central banks have been quick to increase interest rates to bring inflation under control. In the United States, the effective Fed Funds rate increased by 500 basis points in just 14 months, a speed never observed since 1988. The European Central Bank has raised its policy rates by 400 basis points since mid-2022 and indicated that more rate hikes are forthcoming. … [Read more...] about Preparedness crucial in safeguarding banking sector
Second home real estate on the slow path to recovery
Hotel supply in Vietnam has tripled over the past decade, photo Le Toan According to a report by DKRA Vietnam, the supply of villas and town houses across the country continued to decrease from the end of the second quarter of 2022. Specifically, in April only two projects were opened for sale, providing 12 apartments to the market, down 69 per cent from the previous month and down 98 per cent compared to the same period last year. Particularly, the Central region recorded the fourth consecutive month that no new projects were introduced to the market. “It is expected that in the next few months, supply and demand may increase slightly. However, the market will not have obvious fluctuations with key transactions, except from expected transactions on Phu Quoc island,” according to DKRA’s report. The primary selling price did not alter greatly compared to the previous month. Instead, investors have aggressively launched discounts up to 30-40 per cent to stimulate market … [Read more...] about Second home real estate on the slow path to recovery
Budget estimate shortcomings require modern fix
The government last week reported that under its latest calculations, the state budget revenue last year hit about VND1.815 quadrillion ($78.93 billion), which is VND201.4 trillion ($8.75 billion) or 12.5 per cent higher than a previously reported figure. “The revenue has sufficiently met all tasks on expenditures for development investment, social security, salary reform, and other necessary tasks,” the government stated. Budget estimate shortcomings require modern fix Such a revenue increase was thanks to a rise in many items, with enterprises performing relatively well despite massive difficulties. For example, the economy’s most updated export turnover last year reached $371.3 billion, higher than the $368 billion earlier reported to the National Assembly – with the exact trade surplus of more than $12.4 billion, far higher than the only $1 billion earlier reported to the legislative body. However, the National Assembly Economic Committee (NAEC) found that the … [Read more...] about Budget estimate shortcomings require modern fix