Economy growing but still fragile: NA member
Economy growing but still fragile: NA member
The Lao economy is still fragile despite having seen a remarkable growth over the past five years, according to a member of the Lao National Assembly.
Speaking at a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism on Friday, the assembly's Economic and Finance Committee Chairwoman, Dr Souvanpheng Bouphanouvong said that the growth of the Lao economy was based on the exploitation of natural resources, which would one day be depleted.
“If we cut out the contribution from natural resources, our economy shows only a small growth,” she said as part of her intention to give the officials a clearer picture of the real economic growth of Laos.
A number of the officials pressed the assembly to urge the government to increase the budget for the information and culture sector, which plays an important role in delivering Party and government policy, knowledge and information to the public.
Dr Souvanpheng said that the National Assembly had requested the government to secure 35 percent of the state investment budget for the social sector including 17 percent for education and 9 percent for the health sector, two of the main pursuits for improving human resources and the health of Lao people.
However, she said that increasing the budget for the social sector did not cover the total expenditure demands of the country and the government must ensure that all social sectors receive sufficient funding to fulfill their roles and perform their duties.
Dr Souvanpheng said that the growth of the Lao economy was based on foreign direct investment, adding that investment projects such as hydropower plants will not begin to generate income for Laos for several years so it was difficult for the government to raise sufficient revenue to meet the growing expenditure needs.
Despite revenue collection challenges the assembly consults with the government, in particular the Ministry of Finance, on increasing collections.
“The finance ministry told us they would only collect 15.6 percent of GDP but we requested they increase this to 18 percent,” she said.
Dr Souvanpheng confirmed that the National Assembly had approved a government proposal to increase the salaries of civil servants in October, hoping that the finance ministry will be able to enforce the government policy and ensure the well-being of the state officials.
“Our recommendation to the government is to increase the salaries of state officials who currently earn a low income,” she said, adding that the economic and finance committee could not provide details on the amounts of the salaries which the state officials will get next fiscal year.
She also said that the government had told the assembly that it would continue to increase salaries for state officials for a period of five years.
Another member of the National Assembly, Mr Bouangeun Xaphouvong said that despite the Lao economy still being small, it keeps growing, giving hope to Lao people that they will be able to benefit from the economic growth.
vientiane times
