By 2020: implementing a general mechanism of financial management

	Australia committed to supporting Vietnam to develop a legal framework for public financial management
	Many mistakes in financial management and budget
	Tightening the discipline of financial management and State budget
	The Law on Public Debt Management to be amended in 2017

In 2016, the country has saved 3,400 governmental staff at the central level and 9,497 ones at the local level. Photo: TL

Saving more than 12.800 governmental staff

After a period of application, according to the Ministry of Finance, the implementation of the autonomy and self-responsibility mechanism in the use of governmental-staff and administrative management expenditure in accordance with Decree 130/2005/ND-CP (Decree 130) regulating the autonomy and self-responsibility mechanism in the usage of governmental-staff and administrative management expenditure in state agencies, and Decree 117/2013/ND-CP (Decree 117) amending and supplementing some articles of Decree 130 has achieved many positive results.

The autonomy and self-responsibility mechanism have contributed to promoting the restructuring of the apparatus, the arrangement and use of cadres and civil servants in line with their functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the unit. As a result, our country must not recruit a large number of governmental staff. As of 2016, the country has saved 3,400 governmental staff at central level and 9,497 at the local level. Thanks to the mechanism, the agencies also use the fund actively, economically and effectively.

For example, at the Ministry of Health, in the new report sent to the Ministry of Finance, the implementation of the autonomy and self-responsibility mechanism has gained good results. According to statistics, the ministry has assigned 81 of 81 units to implement the autonomy mechanism. So far, 10 units are solely responsible for recurrent expenditures, and 65 units are solely responsible for a part of recurrent expenditures. Only remaining 6 units are funded by the state budget. Currently state fund allocated to the units accounted for only 13.5% of total operating expenses, while service revenue and other revenue increases sharply, accounting for 86.5% of the total budget of the units.

The Ministry of Health evaluates that the allocation of autonomy to units has partly released and created openings for public units in the use of state budget, and in the development and use of revenue sources. The units have implemented many services to meet the needs of patients and strictly manage some sources of income outside of medical services (such as on-demand medical consultation, hospital pharmacy, parking, canteen and cafeteria). In addition, thanks to the autonomy mechanism, the units have developed and allocated appropriate and economical expenditure norms to develop their professional activities.

For the Ministry of Justice, the implementation of the autonomy mechanism has increased the responsibility of the staff in the unit. Heads of units have the responsibility to use the staff and funds allocated for the right purposes, in an economical and efficient manner, and to organize and handle the work in an effective manner with the aim of completing the assigned tasks. The autonomy mechanism has created publicity and transparency in the management and use of state fund and assets, ensuring the economical implementation and preventing waste.

According to Pham Van Truong, Director of the Department of Finance and Public Administration under the Ministry of Finance: "In the administrative agencies, the responsibility of the head of the unit is improved. Officials and civil servants may supervise the use of payrolls and funds. The status that superiors interfere too deeply in the work of inferiors subordinates, and that they wait for specific guidance from the superiors, has been overcome. The autonomy mechanism has helped the Department to strengthen its facilities, gradually modernizing the management technology and increased incomes for officials and civil servants."

Removing specialized mechanisms

Although, some ministries and sectors highly appreciated the results from the implementation of the autonomy mechanism, there are some agencies that have not paid attention to the close implementation of the mechanism. Besides, the allocation norm of state budget is still low, while most of the administration have not any other revenue sources, so many agencies don’t have the funds to compensate for their officals’ incomes. Many agencies have only extra incomes but have not revenue for reward, welfare, provisions for income stabilization.

Remarkably, according to the leader of Director of the Department of Finance and Public Administration, there are some agencies still paying the extra income in the form of equality, not from the results of task performance. Fund for the implementation of the autonomy mechanism is determined on the basis of the salary fund according to the payroll norms assigned by the competent authority based on the job position and the rank structure of civil servants.

"So far, many agencies have not yet approved the work position and the rank structure of civil servants. Therefore, the allocation of funds still depends on the number of governmental staff assigned by competent authorities. Accordingly, the saving of governmental staff in some units actually due to non - identification of job position and non - recruitment of staff in accordance with the standards. The organization of the apparatus is not effective. In some agencies, many officers are in charge of many works, leading to inefficiency, "Pham Van Truong shared.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Finance will continue to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism of the state agencies to promptly promulgate appropriate revised documents. In order to continue the implementation of autonomy and self-responsibility mechanism for non-business and administrative units, the Ministry of Finance will assign the autonomy for the use of funds for the agencies on the basis of allocation norm of state budget in accordance with the public operation scope of each state agency.

Public finance reform: Improving the quality of public service delivery units VCN- Over the past years, the State has always spent a certain allocation of state budget resources ...

Especially, the Ministry of Finance proposes that after 2020, when the road map of salary reform will have reached its objective, when the income of civil servants achieve a good average in the labour market, the mechanism of using funds to increase the income for civil servants will no longer be implemented. Also, when the ministries’ strategies approved by the Prime Minister, will have reached the objective of investment in facility and human training by 2020, the general mechanism of financial management for all state agencies will be applied, and there will be no longer specialized mechanisms for some ministries as there are currently.