Hanoi (VNA) — Members of theNational Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) have proposed that the Ministry ofFinance (MoF) be the main agency responsible for assisting the Government inthe management of public debt, instead of three bodies as currently stipulatedin law.

The idea was put forward on September 12 as the NASC andrepresentatives of the Government discussed the revised Law on Public Debt.

Chairman of the NA Committee for Finance and Budget Nguyen DucHai, said the committee thought that having a single body managing public debtis necessary to restructure the State budget, better manage public debt andensure a stable national finance system.

The committee proposed the MoF shoulders this responsibility,which involves both the tasks it is currently performing and new ones. Undercurrent law the additional tasks belong to the Ministry of Planning andInvestment (MPI) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

These include the mobilisation of domestic and foreign loans,the management of borrowed capital, monitoring debt payment obligations,negotiation and signing of domestic and foreign loans, including ODA,preferential loans and foreign commercial loans, among others.

Other ministries and ministerial-level agencies would be responsible forcooperating with the MoF in public debt management, the committee suggested.

The proposal was put forward despite the fact that the Governmentstill wants to maintain the status quo, citing a wish to avoid causingorganisational reshuffling and instability at the three agencies involved.

Under the Law on Public Debt 2009, the MPI is responsible forissues relating to ODA while the SBV is assigned to work on negotiations andthe signing of agreements between Vietnam and international financial andmonetary institutions.

NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien mentioned concerningincidents, such as the sharp increase in public debt and excessive ODA loansover the past few years, attributing them to shortcomings in public debtmanagement.

He said there existed overlapping roles in public debtmanagement and proposed a review of the articles involving the role of MPI andSBV in the current law.

NA Secretary General Nguyen Hanh Phuc agreed: “We arecarrying out administrative reform. How can we call it ‘reform’ while one jobis assigned to three agencies?”

It is not the first time that this idea has been proposed. Itwas in fact raised by many deputies at the debate on the revised law during thethird session of the NA in June.

As the NASC and the Government still haven’t been able tocome to an agreement, NASC members suggested asking for the Politburo’s opinionregarding the issue.-VNA