Le Minh Khai, Deputy Auditor General of the State Audit of Viet Nam. — Photo vnexpress

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The national financial audit for the 2011 fiscal year was released at a press conference in the capital city on Thursday by Le Minh Khai, Deputy Auditor General of the State Audit of Viet Nam.

Khai said that during their audit, his agency had discovered that VND14.7 trillion (US$700 million) was still to be collected or had been spent by different economic entities.

"Of the sum, nearly VND2.2 trillion ($104.7 million) was still overdue; VND2.5 trillion ($119 million) went on overspending and VND957.8 billion ($45.6 million) was added to the current bad debt," he said.

The audit said that during their work at the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), six financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and financial companies, auditors had completed their task and followed the government's policies and guidelines on monetary management. Some institutions made a small profit while some were lower than the previous year (2010).

The revenue made from investments and the stock exchanges in 2011 by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) was between 3.1-3.4 per cent while the Cuu Long Delta Housing Development Bank recorded only 0.07 per cent.

Khai told reporters that the SAV has referred five cases for further investigation.

They are the Project Management Unit at the Hung Yen Department of Agriculture and Rural Development because of an incorrect financial settlement of over VND3 billion ($143,000) for two water supply projects that did not happen; the Thanh Nghe Tinh Foodstuffs Joint Stock Company, advanced VND143 billion ($6.8 million) to buy rice, but failed to buy it; Financial Company No 2 under the Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, misused a loan from Viet Nam Social Security; the Mekong Construction Company - an affiliate of VINACONEX Xuan Mai, failed to implement a real estate project despite having bought the land; and the Da River Company after fraud was discovered when the company was found to have been misusing funds as well as when buying and selling foreign currencies.

Khai also said that during their time at major petrol importing and exporting companies, his staff also detected falsified applications for foreign exchanges, to determine petrol prices or when receiving money from the stabilising fund.

Referring to a question put by the Vietnam News Agency on the issue, that many people had more than one health insurance card, Khai said his agency has petitioned for the return of more than VND6.4 billion ($305,000) to the state budget.

Bui Duc Thu, a permanent member of the Financial and Budgetary Committee at the National Assembly added at the press conference that according to the SAV's report, by the end of 2011, public debt had remained under the safety bench mark.

"By December 31, 2011, public debt had reached VND 1.3 thousand trillion ($66.3 trillion), equal to 54.9 per cent of GDP," Thu said. However, he added, "the state budget is always overspent. As a result, the government has to use ODA to compensate." — VNS