Institutionalize major policies, remove shortcomings from practice
On April 11, 2025, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Finance held a National Conference to collect comments on the Comprehensive Project to amend the State Budget Law (NSNN). The conference was chaired by Deputy Minister of Finance Ho Sy Hung, with the participation of representatives of central ministries, branches, People's Committees of provinces and cities and specialized units in the financial sector.
Comprehensive amendment of the State Budget Law is a strategic step to perfect the mechanism of management and use of national budget effectively and transparently, suitable to the new development stage. After more than 8 years of implementation, the 2015 State Budget Law has promoted the role in operating the budget, but also revealed the shortcomings before the requirements of renovation of the apparatus, economic development and international integration.
Carrying out the conclusions of the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo and the Resolution of the National Assembly, the Government assigned the Ministry of Finance to assume the prime responsibility and develop a draft amendment of the State Budget Law, submit it to the National Assembly at the 9th session (May 5.2025). Earlier, the Ministry of Finance collected comments from ministries, branches and localities and organized thematic seminars to complete the dossier to submit to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal.
Increasing local authority, simplifying procedures
The draft law is built in the following directions: Fully institutionalizing the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State; Legalization of content suitable to reality; ensure consistency and synchronization with the legal system; enhance decentralization and decentralization associated with explanation responsibility; Inheriting the effectiveness of the current law, and at the same time adjusting the regulations is no longer appropriate.
The four key amendments are identified as:
First, innovate the mechanism for decentralizing revenue sources between central and local budgets, increase the leading role of the State budget, and at the same time improve the initiative of the State budget in mobilizing and using development resources.
Second, clearly define spending tasks between budget levels, prioritize allocation to key areas such as science - technology, innovation and digital transformation.
Thirdly, enhance decentralization in making and obeying estimates. The draft allows the Government to adjust the estimates of a number of ministries and localities (do not increase the overspending), and at the same time empower the People's Committees at all levels to adjust the local expenditure estimates and report to the competent authority. Regulations on handling of revenue and expenditure differences are also amended in the direction of flexibility, abandoning the priority order in the allocation of revenue increase and expansion of the scope of use.
Fourth, simplify administrative procedures, shorten the process of making estimates and finalizing the budget. The improvements include: reducing procedures for building and notifying the revenue and expenditure inspection number, streamlining the 3-year financial and state budget plan, streamlining the requirements for making expenditure estimates, especially for highly specific areas such as technology and digital transformation.
Receiving practical opinions, completing the draft law
At the Conference, the comments focused on clarifying the inadequacies within the scope of the current State Budget Law, especially the concept and definition of inconsistency; Mechanism of revenue decentralization and spending tasks among levels; competence to adjust the estimate between the Government and the People's Committee; responsibilities of the head in spending and budget settlement; The process of controlling, paying and checking the settlement of the financial agency, the State Treasury.
Many delegates also proposed that it is necessary to fully assess the socio-economic and legal impacts of the amended contents, ensuring feasibility and suitability with management practices at both the central and local levels.
The conference is an important step in the process of completing the Draft Law on State Capital Investment (amended), ensuring adequate reflection of the opinions of implementing agencies and the requirements for sustainable development in the coming period.
