HÀ NỘI - The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs needs to set up a council to assess and define poor districts in order to support fast and sustainable poverty reduction, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ said yesterday.

He made the statement while chairing National Steering Committee on national targeted programmes between 2016 and 2020.

Huệ said that despite achievements in implementing programmes on building new-style rural areas and reducing poverty, these had not been evenly carried out across the country.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the total State budget for national targeted programmes is VNĐ15.231 trillion. Most localities are accelerating implementation of their programmes.

However, the fund disbursement nationwide for this purpose in the first six months of the year remained low, reaching only 13.09 per cent of target.

In light of the slow disbursement rate, the rate of public investment disbursement surged in July compared to June and the same period last year, Huệ said. However, it only brought the disbursement rate in the first seven months to 30 per cent.

“The disbursement speed has made progress but has not reached targets, especially in disbursing public investment capitals,” he said.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường said that national targeted programmes on building new-style rural areas and sustainably reducing poverty had been combined  with a focus on increasing investment by allocating resources for a five-year cycle instead of annual investment.

The Deputy Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review capital disbursement of two national targeted programmes related to accelerating progress and improving quality of public investment disbursement.

He also ordered the Việt Nam Bank for Social Policies to study increased credit for building new-style rural areas.

The core of new-style rural areas is poverty reduction, which also includes changes in cultural values, living environment, order and security, social safety and local livelihoods. These “soft” criteria must also be accorded attention, Huệ said. - VNS