According to the Ministry of Finance, of the sum, VND9.4 trillion were used by 63 cities and provinces nationwide to support roughly 8.98 million people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. So, each person received VND1 million (USD43.47).
Meanwhile, the government allocated VND2.8 trillion of the central budget for the ministries of health, public security and defence and VND169.6 billion for seven localities for pandemic prevention and control.
In April, the government approved a VND62 trillion (USD2.6 billion) financial support package for poor people and businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The package targets six categories of individuals and businesses, including people losing their jobs, part-time workers who are unemployed but have not received unemployment benefits and poor and near-poor households.
The ministry reported that during the first five months of this year, Vietnam spent VND530 billion for the Mekong Delta region to deal with droughts and saline intrusion. VND339 billion were used to support localities hit by African Swine Fever during the period.
During the January-May period, Vietnam signed five agreements on foreign loans with a combined capital of USD523 million.