Nearly 90 percent of audited enterprises recorded profitable results in 2008 despite the negative impacts of the global economic crisis, according to a report from the State Audit of Vietnam.

These enterprises have significantly contributed to boosting economic growth and tackling social problems, the report says.

Twelve out of 20 state corporations, which had a total pre-tax profit of 16.6 trillion VND (874 million USD), recorded better business results than for 2007, while some performed ineffectively, losing part of their capital. Ten out of 20 state cooperations had invested into their non-traditional fields.

Finances at some state corporations were poorly managed, leaving huge bad debts such as those of the Southern Food Corporation, Hanoi Construction Corporation and Viettel Corporation's commercial and export company.

The SAV's report, released in Hanoi on July 29, presents SAV's auditing results of 2009 and a report on implementation of auditors' proposals in 2008.

All of the 16 state budget revenue sources beat planned targets, except for petrol fees, which only accounted for 90.7 percent of the target, said Deputy General Auditor Le Minh Khai at the press conference to release the report.

Khai said that even if an increase due to inflation is factored in, revenues still recorded an increase of nearly 14 percent.

Domestic revenue accounted for nearly 56 percent of the total state budget. Revenues from state corporations increased by 43.2 percent over 2007, 13.7 percent higher than targeted in the plan.

Revenue from raw oil was 37 percent higher than targeted and 14 percent higher than in 2007, said Khai.

However, revenue planning didn't always closely follow practices, and in several cases, realised revenue sources were higher than had been planned. Khai said some corporations didn't even have a revenue plan.

The SAV has proposed to ask the Ministry of Finance for a higher planned revenue of 4.5 trillion VND (237 million USD), of which 3.3 trillion VND (174 million USD) would be allocated for the state budget.

A decrease in state budget expenditure of 3.4 trillion VND (179 million USD) was also proposed, as a significant amount of funds had been misspent.

The report said many localities had higher expenditures than planned, and many of them spent as much as 30 per cent more than what they should have.

The audited government's foreign debt by the end of 2008 was 432.3 trillion VND (228 million USD ), accounting for 29.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and total government debt accounted for 33.4 percent GDP.

According to the audit results, banks, insurance companies and other credit institutions in general performed effectively and followed security regulations set by the State Bank of Viet Nam. Many of them focused on increasing their service quality and diversity.

120 projects experienced some delays due to efforts to curb inflation, stabilise the macro economy and ensure sustainable development. The total number of delayed or cancelled projects in 2008 was 1,884, with total capital of 5.66 trillion VND (298 million USD).

The SAV proposed to replace or amend 45 legal documents that were not in line with State regulations, and also urged the issuance of 20 new policies and guidance documents./.