Bảo Hoa

HÀ NỘI — State budget revenue reached over VNĐ2 quadrillion (US$78.8 billion) last year, exceeding forecasts by 19.1 per cent and increasing by 15.5 per cent compared to 2023, statistics reported by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday showed.

Deputy Finance Minister Nguyễn Đức Chi released the data during a conference that reviewed the State's financial and budgeting activities in the fourth quarter of 2024, held at the ministry's headquarters in Hà Nội.

State budget expenditures were around VNĐ1.8 quadrillion ($70.9 billion) last year, reaching 86.4 per cent of the forecast. Of this, development investment expenditures reached about 78.1 per cent of the targets set by the National Assembly (NA), the disbursement rate achieved 77.5 per cent of the targets, while regular expenditures reached 94.5 per cent of them. 

The balance of the central budget and local budgets at all levels was ensured, public debt strictly managed and remained below the permissible threshold, Chi added. 

By the end of 2024, the public debt indicators were kept at 36-37 per cent of GDP, government debt around 33-34 per cent of GDP and the government's direct debt repayment obligations around 20-21 per cent of State budget revenue.

In what was addressed as the difficult context, caused by global military tensions and natural disasters that affected Việt Nam, the ministry had advised the Prime Minister, Government and NA to issue policies for tax, fee and land tax payment extensions in 2024, with an estimated scale amounting to nearly VNĐ191 trillion ($7.5 billion). 

The actual reduction was approximately VNĐ197.3 trillion, of which about VNĐ99 trillion was from tax exemptions and reductions, and VNĐ98.3 trillion from tax extensions.

The ministry had also completed 70 out of 71 assigned projects and tasks, including 38 new assignments. It had also issued 86 circulars guiding finance and State budget management, Chi added.

In particular, at the eighth session of the 15th NA, the ministry presented several important laws for approval, such as Law No 56, issued on November 29, 2024, amending and supplementing certain articles of nine laws in the field of finance and State budget management, along with the resolution on reducing the VAT rate by 2 per cent.

It also presented and sought feedback from the NA on projects related to excise taxes, amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax and the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Production and Business in Enterprises.

This year the country and the public financial sector will carry out many important tasks, such as focusing on building institutional frameworks, policies and laws in the fields of finance and budgeting, administrative reforms, the application of information technology, digital transformation and proactive and flexible fiscal policy management, according to Chi.

"The Ministry of Finance will effectively streamline our organisational structure in accordance with guidance from the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and Anti-Wastefulness," he said.

"We will also ensure that the new structure will meet the requirements of the committee under Resolution 18 – our activities will be efficient, effective and impactful, and the assigned tasks will be fulfilled in the best way possible and have a strong impact on society." — VNS