NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien speaks at the 24th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee on May 14 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Members of the 14th-tenure National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee commented on the final accounts of the State budget in 2016 on May 14 afternoon, part of the ongoing 24th session of the Standing Committee.
They said in 2016, basing on the NA’s resolutions, the Government issued many policies and took measures to help ensure macro-economic stability, perform political tasks, promote production and business activities, consolidate defence-security, and ensure social security. Total budget revenue basically met estimates to ensure allocation for spending.
However, they also pointed out some problems, including unsustainable collection for the State budget when the increase of budget revenue mainly came from natural resources and land taxes. Meanwhile, some localities were assigned with the budget collection tasks beyond their capability. The slow restructuring of budget spending also led to the growing ratio of recurrent expenditure to total State budget spending.
NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said the budget collection rose by 9.2 percent from estimates, mainly thanks to the increase in local budget revenue. However, the State budget collection was nearly 1.4 trillion VND (61.53 million USD) lower than the set target.
Auditing results showed a lack of serious adherence to budget discipline, he noted.
Meanwhile, expenditure was basically within estimates, but financial discipline remains lax, especially in the field of construction.
Budget overspending was at nearly 248.73 trillion VND (10.9 billion USD) and accounted for 5.52 percent of the GDP, higher than the targeted rate of 4.95 percent set by the NA, the official added.
The 24th session of the NA Standing Committee is scheduled to last through May 16.-VNA
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