VietNamNet Bridge – A government report shows huge debts incurred by state owned enterprises (SOEs) but experts still argue if the huge debts are a threat to the national economy.

By the end of the 2013 fiscal year, the State had held 100 percent of chartered capital in 796 enterprises, including eight economic groups (EG) and 100 general corporations (GC).

The EG and GC reports showed the total accounts receivable had reached VND298.645 trillion by that time, an increase of 15.8 percent over 2012, accounting for 3.46 percent of the total accounts receivable of the enterprises in the national economy.

The enterprises with the highest ratios of accounts receivable in stockholder equity are mostly in the fields of agriculture and construction. However, the national oil and gas group tops the list of enterprises with the accounts receivable reaching VND2.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, the report showed accounts payable of VND1.515 trillion, an increase of 9 percent over 2012.

The average ratio of accounts payable in stockholder equity in 2013 was 1.45 percent, while 41 EGs and GCs reportedly had ratios at over 3 percent.

VTC News quoted several economists as saying that the figures show the situation is “worrying”, which means the health of SOEs is “problematic”, though they enjoy many privileges that private businesses do not have.

Some other newspapers noted that debt still increased by 9 percent despite lower investments during tough economic times.

However, Nguyen Duc Kien, deputy chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee said the figures were “quite normal”.

“I can see no worrying problem in the figures,” Kien said in an interview with VTC News.

“It is necessary to analyze the figures about the debts in relation to other factors,” he added. “If comparing the debts with SOE stockholder equities, you will see the debts are acceptable.”

Kien went on to say that one should not look at SOEs with such pessimism, saying that the debts incurred by non-state owned enterprises would be much higher.

However, there has been no official report about debts incurred by the private economic sector.

“The inflation rate is nearly 3 percent, and the purchasing power has been decreasing. As goods sell slowly due to weak demand and the inventory index increases, the debt increase is foreseeable,” Kien said, explaining why the increase in the SOE incurred debt is “quite normal”.

Dr. Tran Du Lich also said he needs more information about related issues to arrive at a conclusion on whether the debts are at a serious level.

Thanh Mai