Although the work of preparing state financial statements has recorded initial results, it still needs specific and practical solutions to make this report more complete in the following years.

Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan speaking at the Conference.
Photo: Thuy Linh. 

That is the judgment of Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan at aconference on summarizing the work of preparing state financial statements for the first year organized by the Ministry of Finance on the morning of December 4.

The overall picture of state finance

According to the Deputy Minister, the Accounting Law has assigned the Government to develop a decree and legal basis to develop the state financial statements starting in 2018, which the Ministry of Finance submits together with the State Budget Final Report.

Leaders of the Ministry of Finance assessed that the IWT in 2018 had achieved important results.

Accordingly, it helps the Government and the public see the overall state financial picture because this report has a broader scope including overall budget revenues and expenditures, liabilities, assets. Also the activities of off-budget units, off-budget financial funds, revenues and expenditures of specific off-budget financial units, national debts and debts of related entitiesto finance.

In addition, the Government agencies have exploited the State Financial Statements in 2018 to serve state management. First of all, for the development of the five-year medium-term financial plan 2021-2025 to report to the National Assembly;for building socio-economic development strategy, 10-year financial strategy for 2021-2030,at the same time, directly serving the construction of the 2021 budget estimate report.

Deputy Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan also said that the State Financial Report 2018 is an important document to preliminarily review and summarize the implementation of socialization of public services to build institutions and policies to replace Decree 16/2015 / ND-CP on the autonomy mechanism of public non-business units.

“Non-business units in addition to state finance or the state budget also have non-business revenues.Through the State Financial Report of 2018, for the first time, this source of revenue can be assessed at the national level, thereby helping to assess the challenges and opportunities of localities and regions in the financial fields instead of just in the State budget level from 2018 onwards.Therefore, the findings of the State Financial Statements help the Government as well as the Ministry of Finance rebuild institutions and policies with public non-business finance,”said the leader of the Ministry of Finance.

Another contribution of the State Financial Statements as pointed out by Deputy Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan is the work of operating the national financial system.In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has a huge impact on the world economy and on our country.If in 2018-2019, our country has an economic growth of 7.8%, this year this number stops at 2.5-3.5%.

Most countries experienced a decline in budget revenues.However, in general, although revenue declined, our country still ensured basic macroeconomic stability.

"The Government Conference in November hasbeen held recently, the Government assessed that the financial work still ensures a balance between important tasks and major economic goals," the Deputy Minister said.

In the context that the State must balance budget revenues and expenditures, devote resources to the prevention of Covid-19, natural disasters, floods, etc., the state financial statements are of great significance to help point out the challengesand opportunities of the macro economy as well as the financial sector.Moreover, it also helps to improve the policy institutions on financial and budget management, thereby helping the budget management become more effective and active.

In addition to the roles and significance of the State Financial Statements in 2018, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan also pointed out some limitations and shortcomings of this report.

It can be seen that up to 50-60% of those responsible for financial reporting do not fully understand the meaning of the state financial statements at the national level as well as at the ministerial or provincial level. This means they only follow their obligations and are not aware of the significance and effects of this report.

According to the leaders of the Ministry of Finance, in the future, it is necessary to continue to improve the legal framework to increase the use value of the State Financial Statements not only at the national level but also at ministerial and local levels on the basis of increasing detailed schedulesby industry, field and location.

The contents of the explanations also need to be clearer, more detailed and more specific to help the details in the State's financial statements and the budget statement report become unified.

“Our challenge is to continue to build and improve policies so that solutions and recommendations can be made.I hope that localities, ministries and agencies that make reports can point out the good and bad points in their respective units, on that basis propose solutions to how to improve the State's financial statements next year and gain importance fromleaders at all levels,” Deputy Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan said.