Principles, criteria, and norms for allocating central budget capital to implement the National Target Program on Cultural Development

Capital allocation principles

The Decision stipulates that capital allocation must comply with the provisions of the Law on Public Investment, the Law on State Budget, Resolution No. 70/2025/UBTVQH15 dated February 7, 2025 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly stipulating principles, criteria and norms for allocating public investment capital from the state budget for the period 2026 - 2030 and relevant legal documents.

Closely follow the specific goals, targets and criteria of the Program for the 2026 - 2030 period, ensuring that it does not exceed the total development investment capital and career capital of the Program approved by competent authorities.

Focus on key, key and sustainable investments, focusing on the contents that need to be prioritized to create breakthroughs in cultural development: Important and urgent tasks in preserving and promoting cultural heritage values, comprehensive human development; perfecting the system of cultural institutions at all levels and a number of tasks that the State needs to invest in to lead, orient, control, and create a foundation to attract the whole society to participate in cultural development, especially tasks of developing cultural industries; tasks of innovation and digital transformation in the cultural field; supporting localities with difficult socio -economic development conditions.

Based on the total central budget support capital (including development investment capital and career capital) and local budget capital, the People's Council of the province or centrally-run city decides on the allocation, ensuring consistency, non-overlap, non-duplication in scope, objects, content, and activities with other national target programs. Ensure centralized management, unity in objectives, mechanisms, and policies; implement decentralization in investment management according to the provisions of law, create initiative for ministries and central agencies and thoroughly decentralize to local authorities.

Principles of central budget support for local budgets to implement the Program

The mechanism to support the central budget for local budgets to implement the Program is based on the following principles:

1- The central budget prioritizes support for localities receiving additional balance from the central budget, especially localities in the Northern Midlands and Mountains, the Central Highlands, and localities receiving additional balance from the central budget of 60% or more.

2- For localities that do not receive additional balancing from the central budget, capital support from the central budget is only provided for a number of specific tasks decided by the Prime Minister .

3- The ratio of additional balance/total balanced local budget expenditure is determined according to the 2026 state budget revenue and expenditure estimates decided by the National Assembly.

Central budget capital allocation criteria

The Decision stipulates the central budget allocation coefficient for localities implementing the Program as follows:

Criteria and allocation coefficients for localities according to social objects

Particularly disadvantaged communes and special zones: Coefficient 6.0.

Remaining communes and special zones: Coefficient 4.0.

Wards: Coefficient 2.0.

Criteria and allocation coefficients for priority localities

Localities with the ratio of additional balance/total local budget balance expenditure from 60% or more: Coefficient 150.

Localities in the Northern Midlands and Mountains and the Central Highlands have a ratio of additional balance/total local budget balance expenditure below 60%: Coefficient 100.

The localities of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region and the Central Highlands include provinces of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region and the Central Highlands Region that are not merged and provinces merged from at least one locality of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region and the Central Highlands Region according to the socio-economic zoning in Resolution No. 81/2023/QH15 of the National Assembly on the National Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

The remaining localities have a ratio of additional balance/total local budget balance expenditure below 60%: Coefficient 60.

Localities do not receive additional balance from the central budget, only capital support from the central budget for some specific tasks.

Criteria and allocation coefficients for localities according to population size

Localities with population under 1 million people: Coefficient 30.

Localities with population from 1 million to under 2 million people: Coefficient 50.

Localities with population from 2 million to under 3 million people: Coefficient 80.

Localities with a population of 3 million or more: Coefficient 100.

Criteria and allocation coefficients for localities according to area scale

Localities with an area of less than 5,000 km²: Coefficient 20.

Localities with an area from 5,000 km² to less than 10,000 km²: Coefficient 40.

Localities with an area from 10,000 km² to less than 15,000 km²: Coefficient 50.

Localities with an area of 15,000 km² or more: Coefficient 80.

Criteria and allocation coefficients for localities according to historical - cultural relics and scenic spots

Special national monument: Coefficient 5.0.

National monument: Coefficient 2.0.

Central budget capital allocation norms

Central budget capital allocation norms for ministries and central agencies

Allocation norms for career capital: Based on proposals from ministries and central agencies to implement the goals, targets, tasks, activities of the Program and the allocation principles in this Decision, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall synthesize and coordinate with ministries and central agencies to develop a plan to allocate central budget career capital to ministries and central agencies annually with a norm not exceeding 10% of the total budget for career capital of the Program, and send it to the Ministry of Finance according to regulations.

Development investment capital allocation norms: Based on proposals from ministries and central agencies to implement the goals, targets, tasks, and activities of the Program and the allocation principles in this Decision, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism synthesizes and develops a plan to allocate 5-year and annual development investment capital with a norm not exceeding 10% of the total development investment capital budget of the Program, and sends it to the Ministry of Finance according to regulations.

Allocate central budget capital of the Program to ministries and central agencies to carry out management, direction, guidance, and organization of implementation of the Program's components and tasks approved by competent authorities.

Central budget capital allocation norms in localities

Based on the development investment capital plan and career capital supported from the central budget notified by competent authorities and the actual conditions of each locality, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall develop specific capital allocation plans for levels (provinces, communes) to implement the contents of the Program, submit them to the People's Councils of the same level for decision, ensuring effective implementation of the allocated capital according to the principles of priority support prescribed above, specifically:

- For the development investment capital plan and the career capital plan supported by the central budget, arrange capital to implement the following contents: Developing Vietnamese people with good personalities and lifestyles; building a healthy and civilized cultural environment, developing a synchronous and effective infrastructure system, landscape, and cultural institutions; improving the effectiveness of information, propaganda, and cultural education; preserving and promoting the value of national cultural heritage; promoting the development of literature and arts; developing cultural industries; promoting digital transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements in the cultural field; developing cultural human resources; international integration, absorbing the quintessence of human culture and spreading Vietnamese cultural values to the world; Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of the Program implementation, improve the capacity to implement the Program, communicate and propagate about the Program, manage the implementation of the Program at all levels according to regulations and other contents within the framework of the Program.

- State budget expenditure tasks within the framework of the Program are arranged from two sources: public investment expenditure and regular expenditure, implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Public Investment and the Law on State Budget.

For projects under the Program using public investment capital from the central budget, the procedures for investment decisions shall be implemented in accordance with the law on public investment or according to the special mechanism issued by the Government in organizing the implementation of small-scale construction investment projects, with non-complicated techniques and current legal documents.

This Decision takes effect from November 10, 2025.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/nguyen-tac-tieu-chi-dinh-muc-phan-bo-von-ngan-sach-trung-uong-thuc-hien-chuong-trinh-muc-tieu-quoc-gia-phat-trien-van-hoa-180700.html