Prime Minister assigns tasks for financial sector

Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has emphasised the restructuring of state budget and public debt as a key and long-term task of the financial sector.

Addressing a teleconference to review financial and budget work in 2018 and put forward tasks for 2019 on January 9, the Prime Minister asked the sector to work to increase budget collection and reduce regular spending.

Besides, the sector needs to restructure and expand collection sources while promoting the application of electronic invoices, he said.

He also asked for more facilitating mechanisms to support small and medium sized enterprises and uplifting household businesses to registered enterprises.

At the event, PM Phuc praised the financial sector’s increase in budget collection in 2018, and its outstanding results like close coordination with relevant ministries and local agencies in implementing tasks on macro-economic stability, growth model promotion and management of essential goods prices.

In 2018, the financial sector collected over 1,400 trillion VND (60.2 billion USD) towards the State budget, or 7.8 percent higher than projected.

Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung attributed the result to the ministry’s efforts to actively implement the budget collection task right from the beginning of 2018, and coordinate closely with other ministries, sectors, and local authorities to intensify collection management.

According to the minister, the structure of budget spending was shifted to the right track, and the proportion of spending for development investment surpassed 27 percent, and regular spending was below 62 percent of the total expenditure.

The state budget overspending was estimated at below 3.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), and public debts kept under 61 percent of the GDP.

In 2019, the sector will continue administrating fiscal policy closely in line with monetary policy and other macro policies, working to boost production and business development, and implementing budget restructuring functions.

It will intensify the fight against transfer pricing, trade frauds, and tax evasion; step up taxation inspections; and solve tax debts so as to reduce the rate of such debts to below 5 percent of the total State budget collection. Attention will also be paid to speeding up administrative reform, and cutting down unnecessary administrative procedures and business conditions, the minister said. –VNA