The Ministry of Finance (MoF) expects to keep this year’s State Budget deficit at 3.7 per cent of the GDP, below the 3.9 per cent mandated by the National Assembly.

The deficit is expected to reach VND204 trillion ($9.08 billion).

A decision released on Thursday estimates State Budget revenues for the year at VND1.31 quadrillion (US$58.3 billion), including VND1.09 quadrillion from domestic sources, VND179 trillion in trade surplus, VND35.9 trillion from crude oil sales, as well as VND5 trillion in international aid.

Total State Budget expenditure for the year is estimated at VND1.52 quadrillion, including VND940 trillion in regular expenditure, VND399.7 trillion in development investment, VND112.5 trillion in interest payments, VND35.76 trillion on civil servants’ payroll, VND1.3trillion in aid disbursement, and VND100 billion in additional financial reserve funds.

Starting July 1, 2018, base salaries will go up from VND1.3 million ($58) per month to VND1.39 million per month, and pensions, social insurance allowances and monthly allowances will be adjusted accordingly.

Provinces and centrally-run cities will continue using lottery receipts for investment in development projects. They will allocate at least 10 per cent of their revenue to supplement the building of “new rural areas,” orienting towards climate change adaptation.

The decision says in the 2018-2020 period, the MoF will continue managing collected value added tax, special consumption tax, and environmental protection tax on domestic and imported petrol and oil products. It will also regulate revenues related to the granting of water resource exploitation rights, and act to keep public debt, Government debt and foreign debt within prescribed limits.

The Prime Minister has assigned the 2018 State budget estimates to ministries and ministerial-level agencies at central and local levels to ensure that they are met while balancing charges and fee collections, as well as meeting expenses for national target programmes. — VNS