The Ministry of Finance shall respond to the voters' proposals in detail and thoroughly

The expenditure structure shifted in positive direction. Picture: selection.

Strict discipline, budget discipline

Among the petitions, many voters suggested that the Ministry of Finance should strengthen the fiscal discipline - State budget; continue to restructure the State budget and public debt; manage more effectively the budget revenues, be against price transfer, tax evasion, tax debt; save the recurrent expenditures thoroughly.

In this regard, the Ministry of Finance said that the issue on tightening discipline, financial discipline - State budget, restructuring the State budget and public debt in the direction of safe and sustainable, were the key tasks that directed the implementation by the Government, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance for many years.

The Ministry of Finance advised the Government and the Prime Minister on the implementation of the tasks and concentrated on solutions to manage the budget collection actively and to manage the budget expenditures strictly and economically, in line with the budget revenue capability. With respect to the revenue management, the Ministry of Finance worked closely with the ministries, branches, committees and local authorities to implement the solutions of revenue management, explore the revenue sources actively and extend the tax units.

A task focused on is promoting against revenue loss, price transfer, smuggling, trade fraud and tax evasion. This requires handling the recovery of tax arrears drastically, rectifing tax refunds, strengthening the inspection and examination of taxes for the enterprises with high tax risk signs. In the two years from 2016 to 2017, the Tax and Customs authorities carried out over 187,000 inspections and examinations; suggested handling the finance of nearly 90 trillion VND; collected over 31 trillion VND into the State budget; decreased losses of 57 trillion VND (from price transfer and tax evasion). The inspection and examination helped to detect wrongdoings, strengthen discipline and rules, deter and prevent corruption, price transfer and tax evasion…; raised the effectiveness and efficiency of State management over the financial management and the State budget.

The State budget revenues have exceeded the estimate of the National Assembly in recent years (exceeded 8.6% of estimates in 2016, 6.3% in 2017); met the budget expenditure tasks according to estimates and handled the urgent tasks promptly and adequately.

In implementing the state budget expenditure control; grasping thoroughly the policy of tight and thrift expenditure control, coordinating closely with the ministries, the central and local agencies to take the initiative in reviewing and arranging the expenditure tasks, aligning the policies, saving thoroughly the expenditures right from the allocation of estimates and the implementation process; Maximizing the expenses for the conferences, seminars and ceremonies; limiting the allocation of funds for overseas studies and surveys.

The expenditure structure shifted positively and gradually reduced the proportion of regular expenditures from 64.9% of the State budget expenditure in 2017 to 64.1% in 2018, while achieving the goal of increasing the basic salary by 7% per year. Spending on development investment increased from 25.7% of the State expenditure estimates in 2017 to 26.2% in 2018. Central and local budget balance was ensured.

Improve the legislation on SOEs

Many voters also suggested enhancing the examination and review of projects using State capital at the enterprises, handling strictly the violations when detected.

Answering this issue, the Ministry of Finance said that the National Assembly passed the Law on management and using of State investment capital in production and business of enterprises at the end of 2014. On that basis, the Government issued the guiding decrees, in which, Decree 87/2015/ND-CP focuses on supervision of State capital investment in the enterprises with financial supervision, performance evaluation and disclosure of financial information of SOEs and the enterprises with the State capital.

Checking and evaluating the performance of enterprises (including the investment projects of enterprises) is implemented through financial management mechanism and financial supervision mechanism for the enterprises. Based on the results of supervision, inspection and examination under the above-said contents, the agency representing the owner shall have the following rights and responsibilities: Warning, handling promptly the arising problem; requesting the enterprises make recommendations and warnings promptly and fully; handling or proposing the handling according to their competence to managers of enterprises, controllers and representatives of State capital portions which commit acts of violating regulations on investment, management and use of State capital at the enterprises.

In addition, the ministries and ministerial-level agencies examine and inspect the investment, management and use of State capital in the enterprises within the scope of their respective tasks and powers. With the role of State management in general, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for coordinating with the related ministries to supervise thematically for the enterprises under special supervision; supervising directly the enterprises at the request of the Government or the Prime Minister; Inspecting and examining according to their assigned functions, proposing solutions on investment, management and use of State capital at the enterprises nationwide and report them to the Government.

On the basis of the current law provisions, the Government Inspectorates, the Financial Inspectorate, the Tax Inspectorate and the State Audit… shall plan and carry out the inspection and supervision of the State enterprises, the units using State budget capital annually to detect and handle strictly acts of loss, waste and corruption, apply promptly measures to prevent unsafe risks on the management of capital and assets at the enterprises.

Also related to the management of SOEs, the voters recommended promulgating timely the legal regulations in order to overcome the loss of assets and capital of the State when equitizating.

In fact, the policies and laws on equitization of SOEs were promulgated in full and timely in the past time in accordance with the Law on Enterprises; Law on management and use of State capital investing in production and business; Securities Law; Law on thrift practice against wastefulness; Land Law... from criteria, list of SOE classifications, equitization order, valuation methods, auction mechanism in the market, and the regime, policies for laborers...

On the basis of summarizing and evaluating the equitisation process in 2011 - 2016, the Government issued Decree No. 126/2017/ND-CP on transferring the SOEs and one-member limited liability companies with 100% charter capital from SOEs into joint stock companies. This decree has taken effect from 1/1/2018 and is guided by two circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance to facilitate the improvement of the performance of enterprises in general and the transformation of enterprises with 100% State owned capital into the joint stock companies in particular in the coming time, preventing loss of State capital and assets, especially the valuation of assets and land of equitized enterprises.

Many provisions of Decree 126 have been amended, for example, to strengthen the examination and supervision of the equitisation process, focusing on evaluating the enterprises, determining the full value of land use rights in value of equitized enterprises, promoting the enhancement of responsibility and quality of independent consultants, the Decree has added the scope and objects under the State audit before the competent agencies announce the value of enterprises (the enterprises with value of 1,800 billion VND or more). On land treatment and valuation of land use rights when equitizing, the enterprises must complete the legal documents of land use option before equitizing. This has overcome the inadequacies of having the opinions of localities on the land use plan after the enterprises move to joint stock companies

In particular, by the end of 2017, the Government issued Decree No. 167/2017/ND-CP regulating on reorganizing and handling the public assets, specifically guiding the order and procedures for arranging, handling the houses and land of enterprises in detail, including the equitized enterprises.