Transparency and consistency in public debt management activities

Many National Assembly delegates highly agree with the regulation "All debt obligations of the Government are treated equally", demonstrating transparency and ensuring national financial security.

On the morning of November 18, discussing at the Hall about the draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Debt Management, the majority of National Assembly deputies agreed to promulgate the draft Law on amending and supplementing to fully institutionalize the Party's policies and orientations on arranging and perfecting the apparatus of the political system and perfecting the legal system; promoting decentralization and delegation of power; ensuring synchronization in institutional reform and removing some difficulties and obstacles that have arisen in practice.

Some delegates said that perfecting the law on public debt management is consistent with the requirements of tightening financial and budgetary discipline, strictly controlling public debt, enhancing accountability and meeting the requirements of international economic integration.

Strengthening the role of monitoring debt repayment obligations

Regarding the principles of public debt management (Article 5), the draft Law has added Clause 6 to this Article, stipulating: "All debt obligations of the Government are treated equally", many delegates expressed their high agreement with this spirit. Delegates said that this demonstrates transparency and ensures national financial security".

Delegate To Ai Vang (Can Tho delegation) said that this regulation demonstrates the Government's commitment to the ability and responsibility to repay debt, according to the principle of equal treatment, which is also one of the important criteria that international rating and credit organizations use to evaluate a country's risk and debt profile. "The legalization of the above regulation is very necessary to help the Government easily mobilize capital in the coming time," the delegate said.

Delegate To Ai Vang (Can Tho delegation) speaks. Photo: Quang Khanh

To ensure consistency in public debt management activities, delegate To Ai Vang proposed to supplement the regulation assigning the Government the responsibility to fully and promptly publicize information on borrowed debt obligations, the situation of debt usage and repayment situation for convenient monitoring by the monitoring agency. Separate regulations on how special cases that may occur will be prioritized for handling (for example, urgent debts to ensure national financial security, to ensure absolute publicity and transparency).

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the role of the State Audit and agencies under the National Assembly in auditing and supervising the implementation of debt repayment obligations, ensuring compliance with the principle of equality between creditors. Strengthen the capacity of public debt management staff, especially in negotiating and understanding international legal provisions, to apply this principle flexibly and effectively.

Regarding the regulation: "All debt obligations of the Government are treated equally", agreeing with delegate To Ai Vang, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC delegation) said that it is necessary to consider more specific regulations on the scope of "equality". According to delegate Tam Hung's explanation, in reality, there are debts that are compulsory, have preferential conditions, or have government guarantees, so the horizontal ranking in terms of payment priority needs to be clearly classified.

"Adding detailed instructions will avoid conflicts when handling maturing debts in volatile market conditions," delegate To Ai Vang emphasized.

Unifying the information system on public debt data

One issue that many delegates mentioned during the discussion session was the lack of uniformity in data and manual nature in public debt management between levels.

Delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC delegation) spoke at the discussion hall on the morning of November 18.

According to delegate Pham Thi Thanh Mai (Hanoi delegation), there are currently no regulations on the information system, data, and figures shared on public debt between the central and local levels, and the calculation, debt repayment, and reconciliation between management agencies are all done manually. To make public debt management more effective and meet the requirements of digital transformation according to Resolution 57 of the Politburo, delegates proposed to add regulations assigning the Ministry of Finance the responsibility to regulate a unified information system on public debt data interconnected between the central and local levels and to each implementing unit.

Regarding this issue, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC delegation) also proposed to add regulations on the coordination responsibilities of ministries and branches in confirming data and update deadlines, because data between units is often inconsistent, causing difficulties in synthesizing debt estimates.

To ensure timeliness and transparency, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung proposed more specific regulations on the time of reconciliation, the time of data locking and the reporting method. The delegate stated that the delay in reporting data from localities is the main reason for the prolonged reporting of national public debt.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/minh-bach-dam-tinh-thong-nhat-trong-cac-hoat-dong-quan-ly-no-cong-20251118114643498.htm