In the context of limited budget resources, Bac Lieu has thoroughly saved recurrent expenses, striving to reduce the proportion of recurrent expenditures, and using increased revenue to spend on development investment. It has mobilized all social resources to combine with resources from the state budget in order to invest in infrastructure and socio-economic development. This was shared by Mr. Le Minh Hai, Director of Bac Lieu Department of Finance with Vietnam Business Forum. Quang Trung reports.
Can you tell us about the performance of the provincial Financial sector in 2021?
Despite going through a very difficult year, Bac Lieu province still strived to fulfill the assigned goals and tasks at the highest levels and achieved many important results. The economic growth rate reached 5.05%; the domestic revenue in Bac Lieu province in 2021 reached VND 3,732,784 billion, 13.9% higher than the Central estimate; the local budget expenditure was estimated at VND7,552,883 million, reaching 101.03% of the estimate.
Basically, the locality ensured a balance of resources to perform the spending tasks according to the assigned estimates in early 2021 and the task of preventing and controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting employees and employers having difficulties due to the pandemic.
In 2022, Bac Lieu province will continue to flexibly and effectively implement the "dual goal" of both prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovery and socio-economic development; strive to achieve an economic growth rate of 9-10%. So what solutions does the provincial Financial sector have to contribute to accomplishing the above goal?
In order to contribute to the completion of the local socio-economic development goals and tasks, the Financial sector has identified and proposed a number of tasks and solutions that need to be focused on directing and administering to well complete the assigned financial - state budget tasks in 2022. Accordingly, it will actively advise the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial People's Council to promulgate documents as a legal basis in formulating estimates of state budget revenues and expenditures in 2022 and allocating and assigning estimates of state budget revenues and expenditures in 2022 for units and localities to actively organize the performance of assigned tasks. At the same time, there is a document guiding the implementation of the state budget estimate in 2022 and on the basis of the assigned estimate, the Financial sector will actively advise the Provincial People's Committee to organize the administration and management of state budget expenditures closely and in accordance with the regulations; improving the efficiency of state budget use.
It will strengthen the exploitation of revenue sources, implement measures to prevent revenue loss and transfer pricing in order to complete the assigned state budget revenue estimates and strive to increase the budget revenue to create sources to perform a number of important local tasks, including the task of COVID-19 prevention and control, restoration and socio-economic development.
The Financial sector will continue to coordinate with other industries and all levels of local authorities to advise the authorities to promote investment attraction; create all conditions for investors to soon implement projects, support enterprises to promote production and business development, thereby creating a premise for the development of stable and solid revenue sources for the state budget.
When the budget is limited, how is the prioritization of the allocation of budgetary resources done, sir?
Currently, the annual state budget capital for local development investment is not guaranteed according to actual needs. Bac Lieu has determined the goal of developing a fast and sustainable economy, associated with renovating the growth model, improving productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness; by 2025, it will continue to be a good province in the region; have a high level of GRDP/capita in the region; and the economic scale by 2025 will increase from 2 to 2.5 times compared to 2020.
In order to achieve those goals, the province has mobilized resources to focus on increasing investments in key and important projects and works, in which the revenues from land use fees and lottery activities are used for development investment; limiting the unreasonable allocation of capital between sectors, spreading between localities. At the same time, it will take advantage of investment capital and support from the central budget to invest in key projects and works in the area.
It will make the five-year medium-term investment plan and the five-year state budget-financial plan for each period. On the basis of the investment capital targets assigned by the Central Government, the capacity of the local budget and the tasks and plans set out, it will make the annual state budget estimate plan and the three-year medium-term investment plan from the state budget; mobilizing capital to focus on projects completed in the year and previous years under the investment task from the state budget but having not yet been allocated enough capital; priority will be given to key projects that have been completed according to the plan but are still short of funds that belong to responsibility of the local budget’s payment, reciprocal capital, payment of due debts and provision of criteria related to the allocation of investment capital from the state budget according to regulations.
In addition, the locality has thoroughly implemented saving on recurrent expenses, striving to reduce the proportion of recurrent expenditures, using increased revenue to spend on development investment. It has mobilized all social resources to combine with resources from the state budget in order to invest in infrastructure, socio-economic development, and gradually reduce the huge disparity between localities in each region.
By Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi