On December 29, the General Statistics Office announced a GDP growth rate of 8.02% in 2022. This is the highest number for the period 2011-2022.
In addition, the trade surplus reached $11 billion along with a series of economic growth numbers are a series of other “dreamlike” indicators. For example: the service industry increased by 10%; industry and construction increased by 8%; agriculture, forestry and fishery increased by 11%; industry grew by 7.7%… In short, all sectors grew.
But, inflation is only 3.15%; unemployment rate 2.32%. In short, the highest growth and lowest inflation in the region.
State media rang loudly: Vietnam’s economy in 2022 will recover spectacularly!!!
But, just 3 days earlier, the same state media reported, currently, 14 provinces have proposed to request donations of 15,400 tons of rice from the national reserve stock to save people’s hunger during the upcoming 2023 Lunar New Year. On December 26, Mr. Pham Viet Ha – Director of the Reserve Management Department, under the General Department of State Reserves – told the press the above information in a press conference.
If the economy has recovered spectacularly, why are there so many provinces asking for rice support!
Remember, before the pandemic, there were only 3 provinces that applied for rice support during Tet 2019. During the Tet pandemic, there were 6 provinces applying for support, the 2021 Tet holiday hads 13 provinces asking for support and the 2022 Tet holiday has 8 provinces applying for support.
Mr. Pham Viet Ha said that 14 provinces have applied to supply rice for hungry people, including: Ninh Thuan, Soc Trang, Cao Bang, Nghe An, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Quang Binh, Bac Lieu, Gia Lai, Bac Kan, Binh Phuoc, and Quang Ngai. Surprisingly, among these 14 provinces, there are provinces in the rice bowl of the Mekong Delta such as: Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, and Bac Lieu.
Of the 14 provinces mentioned above, many provinces have spent money to build very large monuments, with investments ranging from tens to hundreds of billions of dollars, with monuments of up to trillions. Although most of the provinces applying for rice subsidies are poor provinces, they still do not regret spending huge amounts of money to build monuments. The Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has revealed that there are more than 400 monuments invested and managed by all levels from the central government to the provinces and districts.
Briefly describing a number of monuments that have been built in these provinces, it can be seen that: Ninh Thuan has a victory monument of VND24 billion; Soc Trang built a statue of agronomist Luong Dinh Cua nearly tens of billions; Nghe An built a statue of Lenin with nearly tens of billions of dong; Dak Nong has a VND167 billion statue of N’Trang Long… People always wonder, why not use these moneys to save people’s hunger?
However, as usual, there is no year when rice to save hunger can reach the people completely. Every year, every period, rice to help hunger is often abused by local officials. They consider that rice as their own, giving favors or giving less to the poor residents but local cadres use for animal feed…
During the 2020 Lunar New Year, a number of officials in Cu Jut district, Dak Nong province, stopped or reduced rice donations for the hunger. According to the denunciation, many households named in the approved list but did not receive rice. Some other households were accepted but with reduced amount compared to the granted. Many households did not receive rice but the local cadres still had their signatures, probably fake ones.
Also in 2020, the Party Secretary, Head of Thanh Thuong village, Tan Thanh commune, Thuong Xuan district – Mr. Vi Ngoc Tuan – appropriated 5 tons of rice subsidized afforestation from people. All of this rice, Mr. Tuan used to cook wine, give to relatives and sell.
This year, will the Tet relief rice in 2023 reach the people?
The government is doing too many obscure things and they themselves reveal contradictions, or in other words, they are exposing their backs to the people. Because the economic downturn is so obvious, it can’t be hidden and the press itself has said this over and over again for many months. But at the end of the year, it announced the “dreamlike” numbers next to the hunger of many millions of people.
So is Vietnam’s economy growing or in recession?
Thoibao.de (Translated)
