Viet Nam scored 18 out of 100 in budget transference, or Open Budget Index, according to findings of the International Budget Partnership (IBP) survey of 102 countries. — Photo TBTC

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Government of Viet Nam has provided the public with scant information about its coffers and limited opportunities to engage in the budget process, a report announced yesterday.

Viet Nam scored 18 out of 100 in budget transference, or Open Budget Index, according to findings of the International Budget Partnership (IBP) survey of 102 countries.

This was lower than the global average of 45 and saw no improvements from three years ago.

The IBP said that the low score was due to the government's failure in making budget proposals and mid-year reviews available to the public and the delay in publication of audit reports.

Regarding public participation, Viet Nam scored 42 out of 100, indicating that the public was provided with limited opportunities to engage in the budget processes.

Duong Thi Viet Anh, director of Centre for Development and Integration, which joined the IBP in conducting the survey in Viet Nam, said that improving public participation for the budget is essential, in addition to the budget oversight.

Joel Friedman from the IBP said that there was room for Viet Nam to improve its budget transparency, and added that the score target should be 60 out of 100.

Nguyen Minh Tan from the National Assembly's Budget and Finance Committee said that the government would raise detailed regulations to improve budget transparency.

Budget collection

The statistics of the State Treasury revealed that around 90 per cent of budget collections in cash were made through commercial banks.

Collecting the tax through banks is convenient for tax payers while contributing to simplifying of procedures, the treasury said.

The treasury targeted removal of the budget collection in cash by 2020.

The State Treasury also co-ordinated with four commercial banks, namely BIDV, Agribank, Vietinbank and Vietcombank, to collect the taxes.

Earlier this week, the General Department of Customs signed up with Mizuho Bank Ltd. to collect taxes.

Japanese Mizuho Bank became the third foreign bank, besides ANZ and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and the 28th bank to join with the Customs Department to collect tax.

The co-ordination with foreign banks in collecting taxes that go towards the budget has made it convenient for the trade sector. — VNS