There are only about 3 months left to complete the abolition of the district level, the merger of the commune level, and about 4 months left to complete the merger of the province, and put into operation the 2-level local government. Therefore, there are regular tasks during the year, there are pending tasks... that have become tasks that need to be done immediately, done early, and completed within the above time period, so as to avoid entanglement, trouble, or even the inability to resolve, when new agencies and units are formed in the future.
Debt and arrears review
By mid-April 2025, the report sent by investors to the competent authorities showed that the total debt in basic construction was 12 billion VND. All of the above outstanding debt capital came from the district budget from 3 districts. This is an incomplete figure, because districts, towns, and cities do not have information and it is not certain that they do not have similar basic construction debts, when every year hundreds of large and small projects are built.
According to some districts, there are two types of debt: normal debt in basic construction and outstanding debt. For example, with group C projects, construction is usually implemented and disbursed within 3 years, but due to the urgent nature of the project, the government encourages contractors and construction units to speed up the completion, while the budget is allocated in chronological order. This situation has improved significantly in the past year, with projects from provincial capital sources, when there is a timely capital adjustment from slow-implementing projects to projects with a large construction volume. As for district-level capital sources, the above adjustment has not changed clearly, so it will more or less create a debt situation within the allowed 3-year period.
Putting the above common debt situation in the context of merger, it is necessary to calculate early. In fact, the district-level budget is not abundant, plus there is a shortage with unexpected factors, the most obvious of which is that in the past few years, land revenue has been stuck. From here, it contributes to the accumulation of debts in basic construction, meaning there is no source to pay the debt. In addition, it is not certain that the debt is only limited to basic construction but can also be in other activities such as not yet finalizing the general construction planning projects, calculating specific land prices, spending on office supplies, entertaining guests, etc., which if accumulated over time can also be a significant number.
At the meeting of the Provincial Standing Committee to listen to reports and give opinions on the situation of budget revenue and expenditure and disbursement of public investment capital up to April 2025, held on the afternoon of April 26, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phan Van Dang informed that every year, the district level does not disburse all the public investment capital from the province's source, because at most it only reaches 95% and the province also does not hear reports from the district level about debts in basic construction. However, after hearing about the merger of the province, many information was received from construction units that there are still debts, including projects that have been completed for a long time. Therefore, it is recommended that districts, towns and cities must have an official report on debts next week to promptly find solutions to handle them, avoiding the situation where after the merger, there are petitions that cannot be resolved at this time. Because there is not much time left, we cannot wait any longer. "If any district level does not send a report next week, while in fact there is debt, the secretary and chairman of that place will take full responsibility," Mr. Dang emphasized.
Also at the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Hoai Anh requested the secretaries and chairmen of districts, towns and cities to direct the statistics of debts from large ones such as basic construction to small ones such as stationery, reception expenses... of the district level, units under the district level and communes, wards and towns. Avoid the situation of outstanding debts, because when the district level is abolished and the commune level is merged with the provincial level, it cannot be resolved.
Avoid being transferred to bad debt
In the above situation, the disbursement of public investment capital in the first 4 months of 2025, besides the encouraging results, is the tension of having to accelerate further in May and June, especially for projects completed during the year. Otherwise, it will not be on time and may lead to new debts, and even more, we may not know how to pay when new agencies and units are formed, the old investors are no longer there, and the old seals are no longer there.
This was mentioned by the leader of the Regional Treasury XV, Binh Thuan branch, earlier at the meeting of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman working with the Department of Finance on the results of the implementation of the main tasks in the first quarter of 2025. This leader said that the overdue advance balance of projects in the province is currently 127 billion VND, including 18 units which are management boards and investors. Thereby, it is recommended that by all means, the overdue advance balance must be recovered. Because when merging, the current project management boards and investors will no longer exist, so it is impossible to recover the above amount, which will cause budget loss. Similarly, it is also necessary to speed up the settlement of investment capital for completed projects. Because if the calculation is not timely, after the merger, no one will come forward to resolve it. When the treasury merges, the seal is very important. The old seal will only be stamped for a few days after the merger and then will be transferred to the new seal...
Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of public investment in the coming time, and also to contribute to not creating more debt, the Provincial Party Committee emphasized to investors at the district level, departments and units to implement solutions depending on the current progress of the projects. Specifically, for projects that have been constructed and are expected to be completed in 2025, continue to accelerate the acceptance work, urgently carry out payment and project settlement procedures, and by the second quarter of 2025 at the latest, 100% of the capital plan allocated for completed projects must be disbursed.
As for the projects transferred to 2025, continue to accelerate the implementation progress, projects with completed volume, urgently complete acceptance and payment procedures in accordance with regulations to disburse all assigned capital plans. As for projects that have been allocated capital by the Provincial People's Committee to start construction in 2025, urgently complete bidding procedures in accordance with regulations, no later than the end of May 2025, bidding procedures must be completed to implement construction and disburse the assigned capital plan. Also in May 2025, the Provincial People's Committee Party Committee requested the district level to accelerate the progress of compensation and site clearance of a series of investment projects in the area, and complete the documents for approval of investment projects.
Previously, the Provincial People's Committee also sent an urgent dispatch to the Department of Finance and the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to advise on the implementation of Official Dispatch 4738 issued by the Ministry of Finance in mid-April 2025. The content is about the Guidance on transitional management of programs, tasks, projects, and public investment plans in the process of arranging and perfecting the organization of the 2-level local government apparatus. Accordingly, there are regulations on the tasks of agencies in the period before the decision and resolution on merger and separation.
The Provincial Party Committee requests investors to review the volume of recovered advances for projects that have not yet been recovered; finalize accounts for completed projects and works. For projects using district budget capital, the District People's Committee is requested to allocate sufficient capital for payment, to avoid overdue debts in basic construction; and to supplement capital for projects and works that have completed their volume but have not yet been allocated sufficient capital.
Lesson 2: Urgently handle state finances and budget
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/bo-cap-huyen-sap-nhap-cap-xa-tinh-nhung-viec-can-lam-som-129985.html
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