Govt’s agenda designed to overcome economic distress

The government is drafting a national agenda to address financial and economic difficulties amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the nation’s growing debt burden.
In the agenda, measures, timeframes for priority schemes and the responsibilities of various sectors are outlined in response to the nation’s fiscal concerns and are designed to prevent Laos from being dragged into economic crisis.
Some of the most important elements of the national programme include boosting revenue collection while reducing extravagant spending of the budget by rolling out an austerity policy.
In a notice issued by the Prime Minister’s Office last week, the government called for the relevant sectors to further study and revise the national agenda before sending it for debate at a party politburo meeting at the end of this month.
The agenda was announced by Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh at the National Assembly in March and was debated at the first government meeting of the 9th legislature on April 8-9.
Mr Phankham told Assembly members that the issues to be included in the agenda must be matters of urgency, saying it was like having a serious disease which required an operation to help the patient to survive. 
“Tackling financial and economic difficulties is seen as crucial and must be addressed before the nation is dragged into [financial] crisis,” he said.
“When talking about extravagance, the number of vehicles allocated to government officials is excessive. Tackling economic issues is closely linked to fighting extravagance and promoting a habit of austerity. If we earn five kip but spend 10 kip we will never get richer.”
In the notice, the Ministry of Finance was told to further revise the measures enshrined in the agenda, particularly those relating to the creation of more revenue sources, and battling extravagance, financial leaks and corruption. The ministry was urged to spend less on new vehicles and on meetings, parties and the work of state officials in the provinces so the government would have more money to repay its debts.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Planning and Investment was instructed to create favourable conditions that would attract more investment from both domestic and foreign entrepreneurs through convenient one-stop services.
The Bank of the Lao PDR was asked to focus on measures to regulate currency exchange rates and inflation as well as ensure that businesses had access to funding.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport were advised to focus on measures that would boost commercial productivity, particularly in crop growing and livestock farming for export to China, while also addressing issues relating to the price of electricity.  The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism was advised to draw up measures to encourage the public to be more frugal by spending less on lavish wedding ceremonies and festivals. The ministry was also asked to encourage more people in Laos to travel around the country and to buy Lao products to help boost the economy.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Justice were advised to improve their working methods and the management of state structure, and to strengthen law enforcement.

By Somsack Pongkhao
(Latest Update April 20, 2021)