HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly Standing Committee discussed adjustments to this year’s central budget expenditures on Thursday as well as the use of money left over from 2016.

The NA’s Finance and Budget Committee has agreed to funnel these sums to other more urgent projects in the fields of national defence and cryptography.

According to the Government’s report, nearly VNĐ868 billion (US$38 million) allocated for a number of proposed projects has been reclaimed since they did not meet requirements or were no longer needed.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng said the Government had taken back VNĐ180 billion reserved for the construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ new headquarters and expansion of the national bank note printing factory due to their slow disbursement (below 30 per cent). The Government also reclaimed nearly VNĐ690 billion from other projects.

Phùng Quốc Hiển, NA vice chairman, said that reclamation of unused budgets is the right thing to do, but accountability and transparency of the budget re-funneling is also important, adding that “allocation of budgets for projects without detailed estimation is unconstitutional.”

Speaking at the meeting, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân pointed out a number of unresolved issues, including the question of whether to keep funding localities that have not used up the previous year’s budget.

“The priority for this year should be mid-term public investment projects or projects of pressing importance; the reclaimed budget could be used to repair infrastructure components that have sustained damages in recent floods in the northern region,” Ngân said.

Regarding the leftover budget from 2016, the NA’s Standing Committee was unanimous in allocating nearly VNĐ1.7 trillion ($74 million) from the central budget to counter reduced revenues from seven localities (due to objective reasons such as falling oil prices, drought, or the Formosa environmental incident).

HCM City, the locality whose contribution to the central budget frequently exceeds targets, should have received VNĐ2.2 trillion ($96.8 million) for 2016 as per a special financial mechanism afforded to the city.

However, as Minister of Finance Đinh Tiến Dũng said, this amount was considered “far beyond the central budget’s capability,” so the NA’s Standing Committee decided to give the city back VNĐ500 billion – equal to the excess revenue it contributed to the central budget in 2016 as compared to its assigned target.

Many NASC members agreed with the capital revocation, adding that the Government needs to order its ministries and sectors to learn from experience in budget estimating, while adhering to the allocation criteria and principles and the planned disbursement progress. They must also clarify the causes of slow capital disbursement so as to devise solutions.

NA Chairwoman Ngân also pointed out the responsibility of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, sectors, as well as the NA’s Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs and the NASC in project verification and submission to the parliament for budget allocation approval.

She stressed after budget estimates are made, new policies must not be issued to avoid an increase of needed capital. — VNS