Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue chaired a teleconference in Hanoi on December 31 with localities to discuss State budget revenue and expenditures 2019.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the event
(Photo: VNA) 

At the event, Deputy PM Hue briefed participants of the teleconference between the Government and localities to realise the 14th National Assembly’s Resolution on socio-economic development 2020.

He said 2019 was the second consecutive year that all the 12 key targets had been met, with seven of them surpassed. The gross domestic product grew by 7.02 percent, higher than the target set by the legislature, placing the country among the highest growing economies in the region and the world.

Amid declining global trade, exports-imports hit an all-time high of 518 billion USD, with exports up 8.1 percent. The total retail of goods and services increased by 12 percent while over 138,000 new enterprises were established during the year.

It was also the second year in a row that the State budget collection hit nearly 32 trillion VND (1.39 billion USD) and all the 63 cities and provinces completed revenue collection targets, he said.

The Deputy PM asked ministries, agencies and localities to continue abiding by laws regarding debt management and waiver, late tax payment, and use technological advances in budget collection and spending, among others.

They were also required to deal with difficulties confronting businesses, provide all possible support for them, and continue conducting post-custom clearance inspections.

At the same time, they must step up the fight against trade frauds and smuggling, and build budget for the next five years to ensure the fulfillment of the socio-economic development goals in the future.

As of December 31, the total State budget collection surpassed 1.53 quadrillion VND, up 9.1 percent from the estimate.

This year, the Finance Ministry uncovered 17,300 violation cases in customs field and suggested reclaiming 25.1 trillion VND to the State budget.

The total amount of tax debt was over 80.8 trillion VND as of the late December, up 5.9 percent year-on-year.

The State budget overspending was reduced to below 3.4 percent from 3.7 percent and public debts brought down to 56.1 percent from 63.7 percent in late 2018.