Speaking at a conference of the Ministry of Investment and Planning in Danang City, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the calculations of GDP in a number of localities in the country are not accurate, so they need correcting.
Dung said many localities reported their annual GDP growth rates of 9% or even 14%, while the national GDP growth was only 5%.
“The calculations of GDP in localities are obviously not accurate. In the context of global integration, we need to calculate the GDP in a standard way, even though it will result in lower growth figures,” he said.
Vo Thanh Hao, chairman of Ben Tre Province, said GDP cannot be divided among localities and there should be only a single GDP figure for the country. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the GDP calculation method nationwide and this move will not cause any impacts on the economic growth of a locality.
Hao said GDP should reflect development of a locality correctly so as local authorities can revise development strategies timely. Otherwise, it is impossible to figure out a real GDP number of a locality.
Pham Dinh Cu, chairman of Phu Yen Province, said the standardization of GDP calculation methods will secure accuracy and help the country catch up with international practices.
At present, each locality calculates GDP following the General Statistics Office (GSO) but there is not a common formula. As a result, GDP figures at localities are much higher than the national GDP rate, Cu said.
Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh stressed the importance of changing GDP calculation methods. Many provinces and cities such as Hanoi, HCMC, Quang Ninh, Lang Son and Danang include all products exported at crossing points in their provinces to their GDP calculations even though the products did not originate from those provinces.
If the nation does not change the methods, localities will report virtual economic growth, resulting in poorly informed policy-making, Vinh said.
Other delegates at the conference also agreed that changing GDP calculation methods is important for the nation’s development.
Nguyen Bich Lam, director general of GSO, said the agency will compose and announce criteria of Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) from 2016. However, to secure continuity in data statistics, local statistics offices will join hands in composing GRDP in the next two years.
From 2018, local statistics offices will not work on GRDP any more.
Đăng ký: VietNam News