The National Assembly will consider additional funding for repairing national highways in many provinces and cities.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the meeting. Photo: Pham Thang

On the morning of December 4, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on adjusting the reduction of the 2025 economic career expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction to supplement the target for the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to overcome the consequences of natural disasters in the road sector (2nd time).

Presenting the Proposal on adjusting the reduction of the 2025 economic career expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction for targeted supplementation to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to overcome the consequences of natural disasters in the road sector, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc stated that in the recent past, climate change and natural disasters have affected sections and national highways that have been decentralized to the People's Committees of provinces for management.

However, the funding needs for the management and maintenance of the national highway system in 2025 in localities previously synthesized do not include the volume of work arising after decentralization (from January 2025).

Therefore, some localities (Son La, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh) face difficulties in balancing and allocating funding sources in 2025 to handle, ensure traffic, and overcome the consequences of natural disasters on national highways under decentralized management.

According to the proposal of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities and the Ministry of Construction, the Government agreed to adjust and reduce the 2025 economic career expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction to supplement the central budget for 10 People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (2nd time) with an amount of VND 670,000 million.

Therefore, the Government submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee for approval a plan to adjust and reduce the 2025 economic career expenditure estimate (for the second time) of the Ministry of Construction and make targeted supplements from the central budget for 10 People's Committees of provinces and cities.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai presented the Audit Report.

Reporting on the review of this content, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai said that the Government submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and adjustment to reduce the 2025 economic career expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction to supplement the targeted budget for localities based on the provisions of Point b, Clause 2, Article 52 of the 2015 State Budget Law.

The Standing Committee of the Economic and Financial Committee believes that, according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 53 of the State Budget Law, the time for adjusting the budget estimates assigned to budget-using units must be completed before November 15 of the current year. Therefore, the Government's submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and decision on adjusting the economic career expenditure estimates of the Ministry of Construction to supplement the target for the People's Committees of the provinces after the deadline of November 15 is not in accordance with the authority prescribed by the Law.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc

However, the Standing Committee also found that currently, many localities are facing difficulties in balancing and allocating funds to handle, ensure traffic, and overcome the consequences of natural disasters in the recent past on newly decentralized national highways under the authority of localities as prescribed in Article 37 of the 2024 Road Law. Therefore, adjusting down the 2025 economic expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction, and supplementing it with targets for localities to carry out the above tasks is necessary to solve the practical problems that arise.

To meet practical requirements, the Standing Committee of the Economic and Financial Committee requests the Government to consider and decide according to the authority prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of Resolution No. 206/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on special mechanisms to handle difficulties and problems caused by legal provisions; or the Government to synthesize and submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision.

Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai said that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed on the necessity and urgency of promptly adjusting the 2025 economic expenditure estimate assigned to the Ministry of Construction to supplement the People's Committees of provinces and cities with targets to overcome the consequences of natural disasters in the road sector.

However, because the deadline for adjusting the budget estimate as prescribed by the current State Budget Law has passed, the National Assembly Standing Committee does not have the authority to consider and decide on this content. Therefore, the National Assembly Standing Committee unanimously submits it to the National Assembly for consideration and decision to promptly supplement the targeted budget for localities to overcome the consequences of natural disasters in the road sector.

The National Assembly Standing Committee assigned the Government to review the plan to adjust and supplement the budget estimate, and be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of data information; based on the conditions for allocation, adjustment and supplementation of the budget estimate according to the provisions of the State Budget Law, the Public Investment Law and relevant laws, ensuring the effective use of state budget funds. The Government accepted the Standing Committee's opinions and completed the Submission; the Economic and Budgetary Committee completed the Verification Report and submitted it to the National Assembly for consideration and decision.

The Standing Committee also assigned the Secretary General of the National Assembly to coordinate with relevant agencies to carry out prescribed procedures to add this content to the agenda of the 10th Session.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/se-trinh-quoc-hoi-xem-xet-bo-sung-kinh-phi-sua-chua-quoc-lo-cua-nhieu-tinh-thanh-pho-10398208.html