Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung cleared up a number of questionsrelating to the State budget restructuring and the execution of financial disciplines,which were raised at the May 26 session during the 5th sitting of the 14thNational Assembly in Hanoi.

The Minister said the Government has beenenacting synchronous measures to implement effectively the Politburo’sResolution No.7 on restructuring the State budget and public debt managementand the National Assembly’s Resolution No.25 on the national five-yearfinancial plan.

As a result, the State budget collection in2016-2017 far exceeded estimates by 9.3 percent and 6.3 percent respectively.

Budgetrevenues at central level accounted for 55-56 percent of the total revenueswhile localities contributed 44-45 percent.

In line with its integration commitments,Vietnam has forged ahead with administrative reforms and modernisation oftaxation and customs.

Most of businesses at present have conductedonline tax declaration, payment and refund, while all customs units have beencarrying out e-customs procedures and adopting the one-stop-shop mechanism.

The Ministry of Finance has expanded theconnection among customs agencies, commercial banks and State treasuries tofacilitate e-tax payment, contributing to improving the nationalcompetitiveness rankings, according to Dung.

The Minister admitted that the proportion of thecentral budget revenue in the total State budget collection dropped from 61.3percent in 2011-2015 to 56-57 percent in 2016-2017 due to the reduction ofrevenues from crude oil and trade activities.

The reduction of some taxes at a higher ratethan the previous roadmap has enabled businesses to improve theircompetitiveness but to some extent affected the State budget collection ingeneral and central budget revenues in particular, Dung said.

The State budget spending in 2016-2017 wasstrictly controlled with regular expenditures reaching about 62-63 percent. Theproportion is projected to be 61.7 percent in 2018.

The finance ministry will strengthen budgetarydisciplines and promote thrift practices and wastefulness prevention, MinisterDung stressed.

Relating to the execution of financialdisciplines, Dung said the National Assembly has promulgated some lawsstipulating responsibilities of each budget management units.

He recognised positive changes in corruptionprevention and settlement of violations, but pointed out some problems inState-owned and foreign-invested businesses such as trade fraud, transferpricing, tax evasion and appropriation of tax refunds.

To address this matter, the finance ministrywill continue refining legal regulations on tax management and budgetcollection mechanism in addition to raising businesses’ awareness of tax lawsand increasing inspections in the field.

Pertaining to the illegal spending in someprojects, the exceeding disbursement of foreign loans, high ratio of capitalconstruction overdue debts, and wastefulness, Minister Dung said the mainreason lies in the asynchronous system of legal documents, which hinders theprocess of implementation. Regulationson spending have not caught up with the real situation.

The Minister said stronger measures should betaken to tighten financial disciplines while inspection work should beintensified and wrongdoings in financial, budget and State property managementstrictly punished to curb the above-mentioned problems.

At the session, Minister Dung also clarifiedsome issues relating to the management of public assets, thrift practices,wastefulness prevention, control of State budget overspending, and public debtrestructuring.-VNA