The National Assembly deputies at group discussions on Monday complained that State budget estimate making, allocation and implementation are still full of shortcomings.

The State budget revenue in 2010 exceeded the estimate by 27.4%, but the actual income of people did not increase. As such, the sustainability of the revenue sources is not high enough, said Deputy Nguyen Huu Duc of Binh Dinh Province.

Learning from the past experiences, State budget estimate should be based on more comprehensive analyses, with sufficient factors that may impact the revenue sources, especially the global prices of certain items, so that the excessive revenues can faithfully reflect the internal growth of the economy, said Duc.

He noted some localities did not receive additional allocations from the central budget, yet achieved positive budget balances, even larger than the central budget’s allocations.

Duc expressed a concern that although budget revenue greatly exceeded the estimate, tax arrears were also considerable. As of end-2010, tax arrears amounted to VND27 trillion, rising 12% against 2009, in which overdue debts to customs agencies totaled VND5.8 trillion, picking up 9% year-on-year.

According to a report that the Government submitted to NA, in 2010, the State budget gained VND770 trillion and spent VND850 trillion, leaving a budget deficit of VND109 trillion. After auditing, the State Audit of Vietnam suggested collecting VND3.2 trillion worth of arrears and disallowing an expenditure of VND2.2 trillion in the 2010 State budget.

Deputy Bui Duc Thu of Lai Chau described State budget management as “unusual”. He cited the budget deficit of VND109 trillion in 2010, saying that the demand for investment and spending was huge, yet the State budget could not disburse all and had to transfer VND202 trillion to the following year.

Thu stated State budget management had not adhered to the reality and complied with the resolution of NA. He noted there were revenues and expenditures that far exceeded the estimates, such as revenue from land and spending on basic construction.

“Apart from more realistic estimates, we demand more drastic management in accordance with NA resolution,” said the deputy.

SGT