• Credit outstanding in 2012 to reach 12-13 percent

• Settling bad debts: money is not all that matters

Under a recently-approved national strategy, by 2020, the Government's debt is not to exceed 55 percent of the GDP and borrowing from foreign countries will not be higher than 50 percent of the GDP. By 2030, the correlative figures should be 50 percent and 45 percent. 

To meet these goals, borrowing to cover State budget overspending needs to fall to below 4.5 percent of the GDP by 2015, 4 percent by 2020, and 3 percent after 2020. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the strategy is to balance the State budget and investments for socio-economic development in specific periods, to assure efficiency in mobilizing and using loans and to maintain the country's financial security. 

The nation can issue a maximum of US$10.82 billion worth of State bonds by 2015, and US$24.04 billion in 2016-20, to raise funds for developing health care, education and traffic and irrigation works. 

It can borrow around US$26.44 billion at maximum by 2020 to build infrastructure for the industrialization and modernization process.

By 2020, the value of foreign loans is to fall to below half Government's debt while the value of official development assistance capital should account for about 60 percent of its total loans from overseas. 

Dung urged the country to minimize risks involving currencies, exchange rates and capital liquidity, and boost the development of the State bond market. The average term of State bonds should be extended to 4-6 years by 2015 and 6-8 years by 2020, he said.

The Government leader asked for debt payment responsibilities to be fully performed, noting that there shouldn't be overdue debts to avoid affecting the country's international commitments.

He specified that the Government's debt must not exceed 25 percent of total State budget revenue each year while foreign borrowing should be lower than 25 percent of total export value. Foreign exchange reserves also need to be double that of short-term foreign loans annually. 

Dung stressed the need to speed up the development of the domestic capital market and actively take part in the international capital market, in addition to strengthening risk supervision for national borrowing, especially State corporation debt.