The Government's direction and management goal for the last months of 2025 is to continue to prioritize promoting growth associated with macroeconomic stability, determined to strive for a full-year GDP growth of 8.3-8.5%.

Based on the Government's proposal, the National Assembly passed a Resolution to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) rate by 2% for a number of goods and services from July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.

According to the Ministry of Finance's calculations, the reduction of VAT will reduce the budget revenue by more than VND 121,000 billion. However, the VAT reduction policy has the effect of reducing the prices of goods and services, thereby stimulating people's consumption, contributing to promoting production and business activities of enterprises, contributing back to the state budget and the economy.

Pillar role

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the fifth time the National Assembly has issued a resolution to reduce VAT from 10% to 8% for a number of goods and services to support people and businesses, contributing to stabilizing the macro economy. Compared to previous tax reductions, this tax reduction period is longer, and at the same time, the subjects of application are expanded to a number of groups of goods and services essential for life and input materials for production activities.

Continuing to implement the expansionary fiscal policy from the beginning of the term, in 2025, fiscal policy tools will be used proactively, flexibly and effectively, becoming the foundation for implementing the priority growth goal associated with macroeconomic stability. From the beginning of 2025, the Ministry of Finance will research and submit to competent authorities many solutions to support land rent, taxes, fees and charges.

For example, the policy of continuing to reduce environmental protection tax on gasoline, oil, and grease in 2025; reducing 50% of registration fees for domestically produced and assembled cars; preferential registration fees for battery-powered electric cars; reducing import taxes on some groups of goods to reduce input costs, contributing to balancing trade with major partners.

In addition, the policy of extending land rent, extending the deadline for paying VAT, corporate income tax, and personal income tax continues to be extended, which also acts as an interest-free loan from the State, helping businesses have cash flow to invest in production and business.

With the fiscal policies being implemented, the total support for people and businesses in 2025 could reach more than VND 230,000 billion, about VND 35,000 billion higher than in 2024. According to Dr. To Hoai Nam, Permanent Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, fiscal policies through tax exemptions, reductions, and extensions of land rents in recent years have not only helped people and businesses ease cash flow stress in difficult times but also strengthened social trust in the support of the National Assembly and the Government for people and businesses.

Notably, another important fiscal policy that has been promoted in recent years is public investment. In addition to the budget capital of nearly VND 830,000 billion approved by the National Assembly, public investment capital in 2025 will also be supplemented from increased revenue in 2024 and transferred from previous years, bringing the total public investment this year to more than VND 966 million billion, the largest ever.

Under the direction of the Prime Minister, by 2025, ministries, branches and localities will strive to disburse 100% of public investment capital, focusing strongly on key national projects and works, becoming an important driving force for economic growth.

Close coordination with monetary policy

The complicated and unpredictable developments of the current international situation may affect foreign economic drivers such as foreign investment and import and export, making it difficult to maintain strong growth momentum. In this context, the role of fiscal and monetary policies is very important. Monetary policy will help quickly inject capital into the economy, supporting production and business activities of enterprises, while fiscal policy has a certain delay but helps people and enterprises expand production, business and consumption, stimulate domestic aggregate demand, and create momentum to maintain high economic growth momentum.

To bring the economy back to a high growth trajectory, creating the premise for double-digit growth in the following years, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Finance to continue implementing an expansionary, reasonable, focused and key fiscal policy, and closely coordinate with monetary policy to maintain macroeconomic stability.

Professor, Dr. To Trung Thanh, Head of Science Management Department, National Economics University, commented that currently, both fiscal and monetary policies are being operated in an expansionist direction, but fiscal policy needs to be placed in a key position to support growth because the room for monetary policy has gradually narrowed.

In order to meet the huge capital needs of the economy in the medium and long term, serving growth, a very important task at present is to simultaneously develop both the corporate bond market and the stock market to share the burden with the banking system.

Accordingly, it is necessary to continue promoting countercyclical fiscal policy to boost aggregate demand and support growth through increased public spending and tax cuts. In addition, the Government needs to remove institutional bottlenecks, drastically accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital, along with improving the private investment environment, enhancing implementation capacity and making the capital allocation process transparent.

In order to meet the huge capital needs of the economy in the medium and long term, serving growth, a very important task at present is to simultaneously develop both the corporate bond market and the stock market to share the burden with the banking system.

According to Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the balanced development of the financial market (bond, stock, investment fund markets), the determination to upgrade the stock market by September 2025; and having a suitable roadmap when increasing prices of essential goods managed by the State are important solutions to improve the efficiency of management, coordination of fiscal, monetary policies and other macroeconomic policies. In addition, it is necessary to focus on controlling risks of the financial-real estate system, cyber security risks, information-data risks in addition to specific solutions to develop a healthy real estate market.

According to economic experts, synchronous and flexible solutions between fiscal, monetary and other macroeconomic policies have been effective, promoting economic recovery and regaining high growth momentum, especially in the first half of 2025. However, in the coming time, it is necessary to pay attention to implementing solutions to reduce pressure on budget revenue and expenditure, import inflation and rising raw material prices as well as public investment risks, tightening fiscal discipline to ensure macroeconomic stability, control inflation and promote sustainable economic development.

Phuong Anh