Finance minister reports on budget spending

At the National Assembly meeting on October 21 the Minister of Finance Nguyen Sinh Hung gave a report stating that state budget revenue in financial year 2003 is likely to reach 134 trillion dong. HCM City is expected to contribute 48 trillion dong, Hanoi City 23 trillion dong and Ba Ria Vung Tau 31 trillion dong but 26 trillion dong of this from duties on the sale of crude oil. These three cities account for 75% of total budget income.

However state budget revenue is over-reliant on import duties and exported crude oil that now accounts for 45% of state budget income, while the budget deficit is running at 30 trillion dong or 5% of GDP. In 2003 the government paid off 22 trillion dong in domestic debts and 7.5 trillion dong in foreign debts, the minister reported.

Hung said unplanned state spending and weak supervision are blamed for the large budget deficit.

Regarding the state budget in 2004, Hung estimates that the government has to borrow 27 trillion dong in domestic loans and 7.2 trillion in foreign loans while total expenditure is forecast to reach 187 trillion dong in which 64 trillion dong will be spent on social-economic development.

 

Category: Legal