Unable to spend in advance, the budget is calculated later
In fact, it is not a recent incident that 2 communes and towns (in Dak Nong province) owe money for food, water, and to receive guests, but before that, this incident had also occurred in many other provinces, including Nghe An and Lao Cai.
Not only directly affecting the operations of business households, the incident also affects the reputation of cadres and leaders in the locality where the incident occurred, when the previous leadership term was sparse, reckless, now having to resolve the consequences, or carrying the reputation of commune and district cadres "suggrating" and "suggrating" for many years.
The debt of food, stationery, and silent printing fees that has lasted for many years in localities as mentioned above is a valuable warning about loopholes in the budget monitoring and management system at the grassroots level.
In an interview with Lao Dong, Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Tri Long - an economic expert - analyzed that the fact that administrative agencies at the commune and town levels have owed people money for food and stationery for many years as reported by Lao Dong Newspaper - could be a manifestation of violating financial and budgetary discipline, even showing signs of taking advantage of positions and powers in performing official duties.
Here, it is not just a matter of "paying or not paying" a few hundred million VND, but it is necessary to clarify the responsibility of individuals and organizations involved in each stage: Who is the person signing the contract to buy goods and services (such as providing meals, stationery)? Is there proper authority? Who approves budget expenditure, who is responsible for accounting and treasury? Is there an estimate, a source of expenditure, and a settlement? If there is no budget but still commit to spending, it is clearly a violation of regulations on public financial management according to the 2015 State Budget Law and the Guiding Circulars of the Ministry of Finance.
Discussing this issue, economic expert, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh - Senior Lecturer at the Academy of Finance - said that such a debt can first be determined to be professional work in administrative spending that is not standard. This also shows that the administrative spending management process of the above units is not strict, leading to silent, persistent debts that have lasted for many years and cannot be settled.
"The public administrative spending of agencies and units has had specific regulations of the law and in spending norms, not spending what you like, spending what you spend. Expenditures of public authorities must be included in the budget estimate, approved and supervised according to the process. No legal document allows communes, wards... to sign or pay debt, spend "temporarily" for activities such as festivals, meetings or bookings and then settle debts for many years" - Mr. Thinh analyzed and said that "the budget cannot be paid in advance, the budget can be calculated later" and then led to unpaid debts that have lasted for many years.
Establishing a mechanism to control financial expenditures at the grassroots level
Referring to the solution to end this situation, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh said that first of all, responsibility and public service administrative discipline must be promoted. The implementation of expenditures and finances must comply with the procedures and regulations stated in legal documents. Establish a mechanism to control financial expenditures in the locality.
Mr. Thinh also mentioned the need to strengthen the independent supervision role of People's Councils and Fatherland Front Committees at all levels, avoid unusual spending and have appropriate explanations for the spending. It is necessary to specify personal responsibility for the leaders of the unit that spend without authority. The situation of "coming through the term is no longer a responsibility" cannot continue to exist.
On the other hand, it is necessary to supplement the regulation requiring the disclosure of debts of each commune-level administrative unit when transferring personnel or merging units, to avoid the situation of leaving the "debt" to the successor leaders without anyone handling it.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Tri Long, people's debt for food and stationery seems to be a "petty debt" but in fact reflects worrying loopholes in public financial management at the grassroots level. When small debts are not fully resolved for many years, the consequences do not stop at the financial aspect but also affect the reputation, discipline and trust in the local government apparatus.
To completely overcome this situation, it is necessary to strengthen financial inspection at the commune level: Require annual periodic inspections with regular expenditure reports and publicize results. Re-train commune finance and accounting officers on the process of making estimates, controlling expenditures, and paying in accordance with the provisions of the Budget Law and the Accounting Law.
Mr. Long also said that it is necessary to apply strict budget discipline. Expenditures not included in the budget estimate, or exceeding the budget estimate but not approved by competent authorities, must be subject to administrative sanctions or disciplinary action against the responsible officer.
Rectifying financial discipline at the grassroots level when merging communes and wards
National Assembly delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) said that in the near future, when the 2-level local government model is operated from July 1, communes and wards will be assigned great authority. In particular, when arranging and merging many communes into one, the scale of the commune level is very large, so public financial management needs to be disciplined at the grassroots level.
According to the delegate, the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level are given more powers than at present. Many tasks and powers of the provincial and district levels are assigned to the commune level, so management will also be more difficult than before, so the role in management and operation, especially in terms of finance and budget, is also very important.
