Removing many bottlenecks in regular spending to purchase assets and equipment

Recently, there have been many shortcomings in using public investment capital to renovate and upgrade headquarters and works. Photo: Internet

Many shortcomings in using public investment capital to renovate and upgrade headquarters and works

Recently, according to the reflection of a number of ministries, branches, localities and National Assembly deputies, the renovation and upgrading of headquarters, works, machinery and equipment of small-scale public assets such as using public investment capital is difficult to implement and extremely inappropriate, because it must be included in the list of medium-term public investment plans.

Meanwhile, the State Budget Law does not have any provisions prohibiting the use of regular expenditures to purchase assets and equipment; renovate, upgrade, expand and build new projects that have been invested in and built.

However, the State Budget Law as well as no legal documents to distinguish between the allocation of investment and regular expenditures for these activities.

At the opening session of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly on October 21, 2024, General Secretary To Lam directed the urgent application of the Party's policies into practical life and the resolution of many other important issues of the country, creating a premise for immediate preparation in all aspects for us to enter a new era, an era of the Vietnamese nation's rise.

Implementing the direction of the General Secretary, the Government has directed the completion of laws. These include regulations on budget preparation, management, and use of regular state budget expenditures to purchase assets and equipment; renovate, upgrade, expand, and construct new construction items in invested projects.

Implementing the policies and directions of the Party and the State, the Ministry of Finance has actively and urgently developed and completed the draft Decree to seek opinions from competent authorities.

Based on the consensus of 100% of ministries, agencies and localities, the Ministry of Finance has submitted to the Government for signing and promulgation Decree 138/2024/ND-CP of the Government regulating the preparation of estimates, management and use of regular expenditures of the State budget for purchasing assets and equipment; renovating, upgrading, expanding and constructing new construction items in invested construction projects.

The content of this Decree stipulates the preparation of estimates, allocation of estimates, management, use and settlement of regular expenditures of the State budget prescribed in Clause 6, Article 4 of the Law on State Budget to perform tasks.

Specifically, it includes: purchasing assets and equipment in accordance with the provisions of the law on management and use of public assets; renovating, upgrading, expanding and constructing new construction items in invested construction projects in accordance with the provisions of the law on construction and the law on management and use of public assets.

Thus, the issuance of the Decree will promptly resolve the difficulties that have been reflected by National Assembly Deputies, ministries, branches and localities in the recent past in the process of using the State budget estimates for purchasing assets and equipment; renovating, upgrading, expanding, and constructing new construction items in invested projects, contributing to accelerating assigned tasks.

Including the Project "Developing applications of population data, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in the period of 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030" according to Decision No. 06/QD-TTg dated January 6, 2022 of the Prime Minister (Project 06).

No overlap with the tasks arranged in the medium-term public investment plan

The subjects of this Decree include: state agencies, political organizations and socio-political organizations; public service units; other organizations and individuals related to the use of regular state budget expenditures to purchase assets and equipment; renovate, upgrade, expand, and construct new construction items in construction investment projects.

The Decree clearly stipulates the scope, decision-making authority, procedures for making, allocating, managing, using and settling the budget for performing the tasks of renovating, upgrading, expanding, and constructing new construction items in construction investment projects and the procurement of assets and equipment.

Regarding the principles of budget arrangement and management of regular state budget expenditures, the Decree stipulates that regular state budget expenditures are arranged to perform the tasks of purchasing assets and equipment; Renovation, upgrading, expansion, and new construction of construction items in invested construction projects shall be carried out according to the principle of non-overlapping with tasks of the same content of the unit that have been arranged in the medium-term public investment plan according to the provisions of the law on public investment.

At the same time, it is necessary to carry out immediately in the budget year to ensure that regular operations of the agency and unit and must be approved by competent authorities for tasks and budget estimates in accordance with the provisions of law.

Agencies and units are responsible for reviewing and proposing to ensure compliance with the principles and take full responsibility for the dossier requesting the arrangement of regular expenditure funds to carry out the tasks as prescribed in this Decree.

The preparation of estimates, allocation of estimates, management and use of regular expenditure settlement for the implementation of the task of purchasing assets, equipment, renovating, upgrading, expanding, and constructing new construction items in invested construction projects shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on the State budget, the law on management and use of public assets, the law on construction and relevant laws.

For the task of purchasing assets and equipment, it is necessary to base on the provisions on standards and norms for the use of machinery and equipment serving the activities of agencies and units in accordance with the provisions of the law on management and use of public assets and the laws of relevant sectors and fields, the tasks approved by competent authorities, and the approved plans to prepare estimates and submit them to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

For the tasks of renovating, upgrading, expanding, and constructing new construction items in projects that have been invested in construction, it is necessary to base on the regulations on standards and norms for using office buildings and public service facilities according to the provisions of the law on management and use of public assets and the laws of relevant sectors and fields to prepare estimates and submit them to competent authorities for consideration and decision, with a maximum of not more than 15 billion VND/task.

The allocation of the regular expenditure budget to implement the two groups of tasks mentioned above must not exceed the total regular expenditure budget assigned to the agency or unit in the budget year.