National Assembly (NA) deputies on October 25 discussed the realisation of the State budget in 2013 as well as the estimate and allocation of the central budget for next year.

They also reviewed the three-year implementation of the 2011-2015 National Target Programmes and Government bond issuance plans for the 2014-2016 period.

Most deputies agreed with the Government report on the realisation of the 2013 State budget. They said despite encouraging results, there remained shortcomings such as huge administrative expenses, scattered development investment and loose financial management.

Regarding the 2014 budget estimate, the lawmakers suggested providing specific figures on budget collection and spending.

The allocation of the budget must be based on the entire term’s socio-economic objectives and reached results, they said, emphasising the need to recalculate and seriously implement the budget allocation for some social aspects such as education, science and technology, environmental protection and healthcare.

The deputies also voiced their concern about wastefulness in the science and technology sector as many projects are only done for disbursement purposes. They stressed the need to review the effectiveness of this investment.

Acknowledging huge administrative expenses, the legislators suggested the budget for administrative procedures be reduced in all aspects.

It is necessary to cut down investment in several ineffective national target programmes, and only focus on building new rural areas, clean water and health, they said.

The deputies also agreed with the issuance of Government bonds for development investment in the 2014-2016 period, noting that the capital must be invested in projects that bring practical benefits.

They concurred with the proposed issuance of additional Government bonds worth 170 trillion VND (8.1 billion USD), with attention to be paid to building policies and institutions, consolidating apparatus, using high-quality human resources and investing in hi-tech industries.

They also emphasised the need to accelerate the promulgation of the Law on Public Investment and have a NA resolution on overseas public investment activities.

As scheduled, these above-mentioned issues will continue to be discussed at the plenary session on November 2.-VNA