Legislators discuss state budget for 2014
Legislators heard a report on the audit of the 2014 State budget during the seventh working day of their first National Assembly session in Hanoi on July 28.
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Of the figure, the central budget rose by VND43.16 trillion (US$1.96 billion) while local budgets increased more than VND51.8 trillion (US$2.35 billion).
The State spent VND1,103 trillion, up 9.7 percent from the estimate. Up to VND85.4 trillion (US$3.88 billion) of the spent money went to development projects.
The central budget’s spending reached an upwards of VND496.6 trillion (US$22.57 billion), marking a 1.7 percent increase. It was due to the quicker disbursement of official development assistance in transport and irrigation.
Meanwhile, localities nationwide spent over VND607.3 trillion, up 17.1 percent.
Reporting the results of auditing the State budget for 2014, State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc pointed out existing flaws such as insufficient estimates by several localities, allocation of capital for unqualified projects and adjustment of capital plan without permission.
The NA Committee for Finance and Budget asked the legislature to pass the State budget for 2014, including the total State revenue worth VND1.130 trillion, the expenditure worth VND1.339 trillion and the budget deficit of VND249.3 trillion, or 6.33 percent of the gross domestic product.
Legislators asked for strengthening financial supervision and refining legal regulations to better manage public assets and finance.
Several opinions requested investigating and punishing cases of law violations found by auditors and examining the supplement of several provisions in the Law on State Budget.
Chairing the discussions, NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said suggestions will be acquired by the NA Standing Committee to refine a draft resolution on adopting the balance sheet of the State budget for 2014 to submit to the NA for approval on July 29.
In the afternoon, with 92.11 percent of “yes” votes, the NA adopted a resolution on the establishment of two groups to inspect the enforcement of food safety regulations for 2011-2016 and the policies and legal regulations on the reform of the State administrative apparatus for 2011-2016.
On July 29, the legislature is due to discuss the socio-economic performance and State budget for the first half of this year, socio-economic development measures and State budget for the last half of this year.
The closing ceremony will be televised nationwide in the afternoon.
