State budget collections were estimated at 286.7 trillion VND (12.4 billion USD) during January and February, or 21.3 percent of the annual estimate and up 0.6 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Finance reported on March 8.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - State budget collections were estimated at 286.7 trillion VND (12.4 billion USD) during January and February, or 21.3 percent of the annual estimate and up 0.6 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Finance reported on March 8.

Domestic revenue stood at 246.65 trillion VND, equivalent to 21.8 percent of the estimate and marking a year-on-year rise of 2.8 percent.

After conducting 3,400 inspections and checking 16,500 corporate tax filings, tax agencies proposed 3.4 trillion VND in fines be imposed, including 780 billion VND for the State budget. Some 345 billion VND has been collected, together with 5.1 trillion VND in tax debts.

State budget expenditure reached 207.3 trillion VND in the first two months, or 12.3 percent of the estimate and down 6 percent year-on-year. Of this, 23.49 trillion VND was for development, or 4.9 percent of the estimate and down 32.4 percent.

According to the ministry, debt interest payments fell 14.3 percent to 21.88 trillion VND while regular expenditure was up 1.2 percent year-on-year to 161.8 trillion VND.

Some 12,760 tonnes of rice from the national reserve were provided for residents in disaster-hit areas. Up to 27 trillion VND worth of Government bonds were issued.

In the remaining months of this year, the ministry will continue using the national reserve, as requested by the Prime Minister, and implement bids to buy rice for the reserve./.