HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) expects to keep this year’s State Budget deficit at 3.7 per cent of the GDP, below the 3.9 per cent mandated by the National Assembly.

The deficit is expected to reach VNĐ204 trillion ($9.08 billion).

A decision released on Thursday estimates State Budget revenues for the year at VNĐ1.31 quadrillion (US$58.3 billion), including VNĐ1.09 quadrillion from domestic sources, VNĐ179 trillion in trade surplus, VNĐ35.9 trillion from crude oil sales, as well as VNĐ5 trillion in international aid.

Total State Budget expenditure for the year is estimated at VNĐ1.52 quadrillion, including VNĐ940 trillion in regular expenditure, VNĐ399.7 trillion in development investment, VNĐ112.5 trillion in interest payments, VNĐ35.76 trillion on civil servants’ payroll, VNĐ1.3trillion in aid disbursement, and VNĐ100 billion in additional financial reserve funds.

Starting July 1, 2018, base salaries will go up from VNĐ1.3 million ($58) per month to VNĐ1.39 million per month, and pensions, social insurance allowances and monthly allowances will be adjusted accordingly.

Provinces and centrally-run cities will continue using lottery receipts for investment in development projects. They will allocate at least 10 per cent of their revenue to supplement the building of “new rural areas,” orienting towards climate change adaptation.

The decision says in the 2018-2020 period, the MoF will continue managing collected value added tax, special consumption tax, and environmental protection tax on domestic and imported petrol and oil products. It will also regulate revenues related to the granting of water resource exploitation rights, and act to keep public debt, Government debt and foreign debt within prescribed limits.

The Prime Minister has assigned the 2018 State budget estimates to ministries and ministerial-level agencies at central and local levels to ensure that they are met while balancing charges and fee collections, as well as meeting expenses for national target programmes. — VNS