Financial policies must be kept stable in order to help firms feel secure while conducting production and business activities, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Monday.

The PM was speaking at a conference held by the Ministry of Finance in Ha Noi to review finance-State Budget work for 2017 and roll out tasks for this year.

He asked the financial sector to take the initiative in overcoming difficulties facing Viet Nam’s economy while studying economic policies of neighbouring countries to help domestic development.

Deputy Finance Minister Tran Hong Ha said that in 2018, the financial sector will continue its cautious management of fiscal policies in close combination with monetary policies to further stabilise the macro economy, curb inflation and promote economic growth.

Besides, he said more efforts would be channelled into collecting State Budget taxes, closely controlling budget spending and tightening financial regulations, stressing that budget collection was expected to grow by 3 per cent against the estimate assigned by the National Assembly (NA). Budget overspending is projected to be capped at 3.7 per cent of GDP as set by the legislature.

Bui Van Nam, head of the Department of Taxation, said the tax sector would propose the NA issue a resolution to scrap irrecoverable and lingering debts to strengthen the national financial system, along with pushing administrative reform.

Director of the State Treasury, Nguyen Hong Ha, said that the Treasury had instructed its branches in cities and provinces to closely co-ordinate with relevant agencies to swiftly gather budget contributions, and urged investors to speed up the disbursement process.

By the end of 2018, the meeting was told, public debt ratio was set at about 63.9 per cent of GDP, Government debt at 52.5 per cent of GDP and foreign debt at about 47.6 per cent, with public debt structured towards sustainability.

Efforts would be doubled to accelerate the restructuring and equitisation of State-own businesses and complete the legal system on price management.

A decision released recently by the finance ministry estimated 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.

The ministry reported that 2017’s total budget collection stood at VND1.2 quadrillion, up VND71 trillion or 5.9 per cent compared with the estimate, and VND43.7 trillion more than the target set by the National Assembly.

In the year, budget deficit was more than VND174 trillion, equivalent to 3.48 per cent of GDP, within the legislature’s estimate. — VNS