In the first nine months of 2021, state budget revenue was estimated at more than VND1,077 trillion or 80.2% of the target, of which the central budget reached 76.5% of the estimate and the local budget reached 84.7% of the estimate.

In the nine months, the spending was prioritised for Covid-19 pandemic
control and prevention. Photo: Tra Huong.

Severely affected by the pandemic, domestic revenue continues to decline

According to the Ministry of Finance, in September, the control of the pandemic saw positive changes in some provinces and cities, creating favorable conditions for the restoration of socio-economic activities and stabilizing people's lives. The state budget revenue in September decreased VND17 trillion from August to VND65.2 trillion.

The State budget revenue from January to September rose by 9.2% year-on-year to more than VND1,077 trillion, equalling 80.2% of the estimate. Of which, the central budget was estimated at 76.5% and the local budget 84.7%.

Domestic revenue rose by 5.9%; revenue from crude oil rose by 5.2%. Revenue from import and export activities rose by 30.3%.

The Ministry of Finance said despite being severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, state budget revenue in the first nine months of 2021 increased year-on-year thanks to economic growth in the remaining months of 2020. Some industries and fields benefited from fiscal and monetary policies to help remove difficulties for businesses and people and maintain a positive growth rate (such as banking, securities, real estate), creating more revenue for the state budget.

Regarding domestic revenue, the tax authority received and promptly processed applications for tax payment extensions under Decree 52/2021/ND-CP, with a total deferred tax and land rent of about VND78.5 trillion by the end of September. Of which, the deferred tax amount already paid to the state budget was VND36.2 trillion, reported the Ministry of Finance.

In addition, VND29 trillion of tax debt was handled, of which VND25.65 trillion was frozen, and irrecoverable tax debt of VND3.35 trillion was written off according to Resolution 94/ 2019/QH14.

Prioritize fund for Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control

Regarding state budget expenditure, the state budget spending in September was estimated at VND116.3 trillion and state spent over VND1,030 trillion, equalling 61.1% of the estimate, of which: recurrent expenditures reached 70% of the estimate and interest payment reached 72.1% of the estimate.

Both the central and local budgets have prioritized spending on the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first nine months, the state budget spent VND19.7 trillion for pandemic and prevention and VND9.4 trillion for those affected by the pandemic, said the Ministry of Finance.

In addition, the State provided materials and equipment from national reserves for pandemic prevention and 80,000 tons of national reserve rice to overcome the consequences of natural disasters and help people during the Tet holiday and the beginning of the year as some localities were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The progress of disbursement of development investment capital has not been improved.

The disbursement rate only reached 47.38% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister (in the same period in 2020 it reached 56.33%), of which domestic capital reached 51.74% and foreign capital only reached 12.69% of the plan. There are still three agencies failing to disbursement of capital plan assigned in 2021.

The Ministry of Finance said that the overall state budget balance in nine months had a surplus, of which the central budget saw a deficit while the local budget reported a large surplus.