'Economic locomotive' earns the largest budget in the country after merging provinces and cities

TPO - The first figures from 34 provinces and cities after the merger show many new points in the budget revenue picture. Ho Chi Minh City, with the added advantage of Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, has risen to lead the country in budget revenue with more than 465,000 billion VND. Notably, land revenue has skyrocketed, creating a boost for the budget, but posing the problem of stabilizing the market and effectively using resources.

Ho Chi Minh City "dethroned"

According to the report of the General Statistics Office - Ministry of Finance , the total state budget revenue in the first 7 months of the year is estimated at 1.58 million billion VND, equal to 80.2% of the year's estimate and an increase of 27.8% over the same period last year.

Of which, domestic revenue reached about 1.37 trillion VND, equal to 81.8% of the estimate and increased by 31.8%. Revenue from crude oil was estimated at 28,700 billion VND, equal to 53.9% of the estimate and decreased by 16.5%; revenue from import-export activities reached 182,700 billion VND, equal to 77.7% of the estimate and increased by 11.6% over the same period.

Notably, July was the first month of implementing the two-tier local government model with 34 provinces and cities. Data shows that many localities achieved quite high budget revenues, especially the two economic “locomotives” Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to raising the total revenue of the whole country. Some localities exceeded the annual budget estimate.

10 provinces and cities with the highest budget revenue in 7 months (Synthesized from Statistics of provinces and cities; Department of Finance...)

In the leading group, Ho Chi Minh City continued to hold the number 1 position with a total budget revenue of VND465,000 billion, equal to 66.8% of the estimate and an increase of 12.9% over the same period. Hanoi ranked second with VND427 billion, equal to 84.2% of the estimate and an increase of 40.8%.

Hai Phong ranked third with total revenue of VND112.7 trillion, reaching 76.4% of the estimate and increasing by 27%. Hung Yen recorded VND61,607 billion, exceeding the yearly estimate by 111% after only 7 months.

Next is Bac Ninh, reaching 46,635 billion VND, equal to 82% of the estimate; Ninh Binh collected 39,335 billion VND, equivalent to 76% of the estimate. Dong Nai reached 39,103 billion VND, most of which came from domestic revenue. The remaining localities in the top 10 include Quang Ninh (35,455 billion VND), Thanh Hoa (33,814 billion VND) and Da Nang (31,599 billion VND).

After 7 months, Ho Chi Minh City returned to the number 1 position in the country in terms of budget revenue, with the merger of Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong - both of which are provinces in the leading group in budget revenue. In 2024, both of these localities will be in the group with high budget revenue, ranking 4th and 5th in the country, respectively. The total budget revenue of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province reached 77,089 billion VND. Binh Duong collected 71,234 billion VND.

After the arrangement, the total estimated budget revenue of Ho Chi Minh City in 2025 is nearly 700 trillion VND, accounting for 32.7% of the total estimated revenue of the whole country. Of which, the old Ho Chi Minh City is 520.4 trillion VND, accounting for 74.6%, Ba Ria - Vung Tau is 102.6 trillion VND, accounting for 14.7% and Binh Duong is 74,320 billion VND, accounting for 10.7%.

While Ho Chi Minh City has the "cumulative" advantage from the merger of two localities in the leading group in budget revenue, Hanoi has temporarily fallen to second place after 7 months. However, according to experts, Hanoi still has room to maintain its role as an economic locomotive alongside Ho Chi Minh City.

How is the revenue?

To both nurture and expand budget revenue sources and ensure economic growth, economic expert Ngo Tri Long said that localities - especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as locomotives, need to synchronously deploy many strategic solutions in the coming period.

Ho Chi Minh City leads the country in budget revenue for 7 months.

According to Mr. Long, nurturing revenue sources must start with supporting businesses. When businesses are healthy and production and business are vibrant, budget revenue will be sustainable. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are both promoting tax and fee exemptions and reductions, as well as quick tax refunds to reduce the burden on businesses. These policies not only help businesses overcome difficulties and create more jobs for workers, but also promote consumption, tourism and bring stable revenue to the budget.

In addition, experts assessed that the sharp increase in budget revenue from land use fees is also a notable factor. In the first half of the year, revenue from land reached VND 243,644 billion, equivalent to 96% of the annual estimate and increased by more than 2.6 times compared to the same period in 2024. Hanoi collected more than VND 86,700 billion from houses and land, or like Ho Chi Minh City, more than VND 65,000 billion.

Mr. Long said that this revenue has increased sharply thanks to the 2024 Land Law and guiding decrees that have removed obstacles, helping many projects complete valuation and pay land use fees. In addition, the new land price list issued by localities has also increased sharply, in some places many times higher than before.

Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said that rising land prices help the budget have more abundant revenue, but at the same time, they pose two problems. In particular, if prices increase too quickly, the real estate market will be volatile and people will have difficulty accessing residential land. Equally important, this revenue must be used effectively for public policies.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/dau-tau-kinh-te-thu-ngan-sach-lon-nhat-nuoc-sau-sap-nhap-tinh-thanh-post1771161.tpo