Budget to meet 2015 estimates

A continuous improvement in domestic revenue collection (excluding collection from crude oil) in the last months of the year will help the country meet the State budget estimates for 2015.

According to the National Financial Supervisory Commission, budget collection in the first seven months of the year met 52.3 percent of the annual estimate due to a sharp reduction of 32.5 percent from crude oil export revenue.

In the first seven months, the export price of crude oil, which contributes roughly 10 percent to the total State budget revenue, averaged only 60 USD per barrel while the State budget estimates were approved on the basis of the projected crude oil price of 100 USD per barrel.

However, the commission said, the domestic revenue collection for the period had surged sharply by 15.1 percent year-on-year. It forecast that the domestic collection would rise further in the last months of the year, helping the country meet the State budget collection estimates targeted by the National Assembly (NA).

This year, the total revenue for the State budget is estimated at 921.1 trillion VND (42.44 billion USD), which will be used for the minimum pay rise of 8 percent for pensioners and low-income earners from the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, the total expenditure is projected to reach 1,147 trillion VND (52.85 billion USD). Therefore, the calculated overspending rate is equivalent to 5 percent of the GDP, or 226 trillion VND (10.41 billion USD).

Domestic revenue collection last year grew by more than 13 percent.

Deputy Finance Minister Huynh Quang Hai has so far also affirmed that the Finance Ministry will implement comprehensive measures to meet the budget estimates targeted by the NA.

The Finance Ministry will do its utmost to have the domestic revenue collection surpass the preset target to offset the reduction in revenue from crude oil exports, Hai said.

Besides this, he said the ministry would strengthen budget collection to avoid tax avoidance and fraud as well as tax arrears.

Hai also affirmed that with measures to tighten government spending, budget overspending this year would be equivalent to 5 percent of the GDP, as targeted by the NA.-VNA