Accurate advice, streamlined apparatus, and strongly improved institutions
Speaking at the Conference to summarize the work in 2025 and deploy tasks for 2026 of the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed that in the past year, the management results of the financial sector were summarized in eight phrases: Accurate advice, streamlined apparatus, perfect institution, surplus revenue and expenditure, innovative businesses, macroeconomic stability, people's happiness, and national development.
The Prime Minister assessed that strategic advisory work is accurate and timely. When building the growth target for 2025, the initial plan was at 6.5–7%; based on re-evaluating the situation and operating space, the target was adjusted to over 8% and in fact reached 8.02%. This is the result of correct advisory work, creating positive motivation for the whole system to strive together.
Many breakthroughs have been included in the action plan, including a two-digit growth orientation in the coming years.
The organizational structure has been streamlined, the Ministry of Finance has merged four agencies into one, cutting more than 36,000 focal points, reducing 37%, and streamlining over 10% of staff.
The institution is positively improved, and the process of transitioning from "management" to "development creation" is clearly promoted. A law amending many laws is promulgated.
Budget revenue and expenditure are surplus, social security is guaranteed, towards double-digit growth in 2026
In 2025, total state budget revenue reached about 2.65 million billion VND, exceeding the estimate by more than 34.7% and increasing by about 30% compared to the previous year. At the same time, about 251,000 billion VND of taxes, fees, and charges were exempted, reduced, and extended to support businesses and people. The revenue structure shows that over 80% comes from the business sector, reflecting the central role of the production and business sector.
Budget expenditure to date reached over 2.4 million billion VND, equivalent to 94.1% of the estimate; development investment expenditure reached over 82%.
Along with macroeconomic stability, businesses continue to innovate and grow stronger. Nearly 297,500 newly established businesses have returned to operation, an increase of more than 27% compared to 2024.
Regarding the happiness index, in 2025 it increased by 8 places compared to 2024 and 39 places according to international rankings. This clearly reflects the improved spiritual life and quality of life of the people.
Social security work is particularly focused on. Total resources for social security reached about 1.41 million billion VND, equivalent to 17% of the total state budget expenditure. Many practical support policies were implemented, from supporting food for children, developing social housing to eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses.
Strong breakthrough to achieve double-digit growth target
Stepping into 2026, the Prime Minister emphasized that the management goal must change significantly, requiring stronger breakthroughs, in which the key requirement is to achieve double-digit growth. On that basis, the Prime Minister summarized the management orientation in 6 groups with 24 keywords including: strong aspirations; pioneering institutions; effective management; leading digitization; breakthrough revenue and expenditure; sustainable finance.
First of all, there must be aspiration and vision. The desire for prosperity must be formed in ideology, thereby transformed into action. Thinking far, looking wide, thinking big is a prerequisite to create development momentum. On that foundation, the institution must take the lead and pioneer in removing bottlenecks and bottlenecks for businesses and people.
Along with institutions, management work must ensure flexibility, efficiency and synchronization, from the leadership level of ministries and sectors to agencies, units and local authorities. Effective management is management with specific results, measurable, and clearly assigned responsibilities, not formal.
Digital transformation is identified as a key pillar, in which the financial sector must take the lead. Digitization is associated with building a complete, accurate, and updated database; data must become an important input for operation, so that "pressing a button gets data". The fields of taxes, fees, and charges must be comprehensively digitized; financial management, decentralization, and delegation of power must be implemented through a digital platform to improve efficiency and transparency.
Regarding breakthrough revenue and expenditure, the requirement is to collect correctly, fully, and promptly, ensuring harmonious benefits and risk sharing. Revenue must be linked to digitalization, especially in the retail and food service sectors. At the same time, budget expenditures must be maximally saved right from the beginning of the year, reducing waste to increase expenditures for development investment and for people.
Reality shows that, although the budget has to perform many tasks, it still ensures funding for practical social policies. Direct support for people, such as supporting social protection beneficiaries, orphans, and people with meritorious services to the revolution, although not of great value to each individual, brings joy, warmth and clear social meaning. This is also a specific manifestation of "happiness", the result of effective revenue and expenditure, and financial management in the right direction.
On that basis, the consistent requirement is to build a sustainable national financial foundation. Revenue must be linked to expenditure, development investment must have focus and key points; budget expenditure must be correct, accurate, and effective to create a solid financial foundation for long-term development.
Regarding the specific group of solutions, the first focus is to innovate the mindset of institution building, strongly shifting from management thinking to constructive development thinking, from the "ask-and-give" approach to improving national competitiveness. The Ministry of Finance continues to play the role of a general advisory and coordinating agency for the macroeconomy, with a spirit of innovation, proactiveness and responsibility.
Next is to advise and propose solutions to manage the expansionary fiscal policy reasonably, with focus and key points, closely linked to ensuring national financial security. The fiscal space is still large, public debt is low compared to the ceiling allowed, and needs to be effectively utilized for key and strategic projects such as the North-South high-speed railway, international connecting railway lines, and leading large infrastructure.
Public investment must be considered an important driving force for growth. The requirement is to change the status, operate flexibly and drastically, disburse 100% of the allocated capital plan, with the spirit of "capital waiting for projects, not letting projects wait for capital". From now until the end of January, ministries, branches, and localities must focus on removing obstacles to complete the disbursement target.
Along with that, it is necessary to effectively operate the two-level local government model; effectively use public assets; promote decentralization and delegation of power according to the principle of "locality decides, locality does, locality takes responsibility". Localities with sufficient capacity need to be assigned to proactively implement infrastructure projects, including large projects, to ensure progress and efficiency.
Strongly developing the private economy and improving the efficiency of state-owned enterprises continues to be a key requirement. It is necessary to build mechanisms and policies to consolidate the trust of people and businesses; support small and medium-sized enterprises; connect Vietnamese enterprises deeper into the global value chain; improve the management and operational efficiency of state-owned enterprises.
The financial sector must be a pioneer in science and technology, innovation, and at the same time allocate adequate resources to education and healthcare - considering this as investment for people, the center and the subject of development. Before January 15, the Ministry of Finance was required to license a pilot cryptocurrency asset exchange, creating a legal framework to effectively manage rapidly developing fields, instead of letting them operate spontaneously and potentially risky.
In parallel with that, it is necessary to build a "one-stop shop" mechanism in attracting investment, strongly innovate the process of receiving and processing dossiers, promote onlineization, and set a clear result return date. Policy communication must go one step ahead, especially with tax policies that directly affect people and businesses, in order to create social consensus and strengthen trust.
The double-digit growth target in 2026 is likened to a "high mountain" that needs to be conquered. To do that, the requirement is to act decisively, do what you do, with focus and key points, clearly assigning people, clearly assigning tasks, clearly defining time, clearly defining responsibilities, clearly defining products, and clearly defining authority.
