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Deputies discuss budget reports
The focus of discussion at the ongoing meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Wednesday was State budget collection and spending in 2008 and 2009.
In his report, Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said in 2008, total revenue from taxes and other sources was VND430 trillion ($22.6 billion) against an earnings forecast of VND323 trillion ($17 billion) – an increase of 33.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, the year's spending was nearly VND452 trillion ($23.7 billion) or 13.5 per cent over the forecast.
Ninh said the 13.5 per cent over-spending was mainly in the areas of development and subsidy for imported oil and gas.
According to Ninh, by late 2008, the Government debt stood at 33.4 per cent of the GDP, while the country's foreign debt was 29.3 per cent of the GDP.
"These debt figures remain under control," Ninh said.
Meanwhile, in 2009, Ninh said VND442 trillion ($23.2 billion) was collected, 13.4 per cent over the plan (Nearly VND52 trillion or $ 2.7 billion).
In an appraisal report, Dinh Trinh Hao, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Finance and Budget, said the 13.4 per cent collected over the plan was a great achievement.
"It was a vivid demonstration of the great effort made by different agencies, particularly in cutting down on waste in budget collection and delays in tax payment. It also speaks volumes for the auditing industry," Hao said.
Most members said over-spending estimates for 2009 should increase to 6.9 per cent of the GDP, as stated in last November's NA meeting.
They argued that the increase in over-spending would help ease inflation.
Lawmakers agreed with the Government's proposal to transfer the remaining VND8.955 trillion from 2008 to the 2009 budget-spending plan and that it should be used on capital-construction activities and State credit schemes.
National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien was full of praise for the Government's performance in 2009 considering the global economic downturn.
"The Government was able to achieve GDP growth of 5.32 per cent in 2009, while ensuring good social security," Kien said.
Kien called on the Government to improve its economic forecasts.
He also said the Government should keep on top of its budget collection and spending so that the National Assembly could make a sound forecast for the 2010 State budget.
Higher tax for coal and oil
The NA Standing Committee members yesterday discussed a draft concerning natural resources tax rates.
Vice Chairman of NA Committee for Finance and Budgeting Cao Ngoc Xuyen suggested separating the resources in order to properly define their tax rates.
Tran Dinh Dan, Head of the NA's Office, said the increased exploitation of non-renewable natural resources, had exhauseted many natural resources, polluted the environment and collected fewer taxes.
Dan suggested applying higher taxes than what had been suggested in the draft for non-renewable resources that are in high demand and valuable.
Ha Van Hien, Chairman of the NA's Economy Committee, said the tax rate of 5 per cent on coal was too low, when Vietnam might possibly import the product in the near future.
NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu also said that the tax on crude oil should be increased, adding that the National Assembly had raised the ceiling tax for crude oil from 30 per cent to 40 per cent in the Law of Natural Resources Tax.
However, in the draft, crude oil tax rates were still about 6 or 10 per cent, which was much lower than the ceiling rate. Luu urged an increase to the tax rate for the product and also on coal and natural gas in the draft.
Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said the high tax rate for non-renewable resources was rational, but they should consider that for other natural resources such as sand and soil.
Under the draft, the tax rate for timber will be reduced and firewood stay the same.
The draft also proposed taxes ranging from 1-10 per cent on natural fisheries. Currently there has been no tax applied to caught fish.
Civil servant law debated
On another discussion, members agreed that the Law on Public Servants would decide the effectiveness of the political system and State management.
Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan said one of the objectives of the law was to define the way public servants could offer their expertise to the public.
Under the draft, if any mishap occurred on the job, a public servant would receive the same social benefits as a war invalid or, in the case of death, be given the title of martyr.
Also, public servants who reached retirement age would be permitted to work for a further five years on contract.
National Assembly Law Committee chairman Nguyen Van Thuan supported the draft bill's proposal that public servants be allowed to work for private entities outside working hours.
"This brings benefits to both themselves and the society and is in line with the Labour Code," Thuan said. "But the law should have a mechanism to evaluate their work performance."
Culture and Education of Children and Youth Committee chairman Dao Trong Thi called for the law to ensure public servants who did not perform their assigned duties could be fined and sanctioned.
National Assembly vice chairman Huynh Ngoc Son received support for his concern at the "brain drain", the increasing number of public servants resigning to take jobs outside the public sector, including people in high positions.
Minister Tuan shared committee memberes' concerns and promised to consider their suggestions on how to reverse the situation.
Members also asked for the law to include a higher qualification requirement for outsiders wanting to work in Viet Nam, including Vietnamese living abroad.
Disability law discussed
All public works and services will have to be disabled-friendly by 2020, according to a draft for the Disability Rights Law discussed at the National Assembly Standing Committee's meeting on Tuesday.
Committee members all agreed with the draft, which focuses on ways to remove prejudices against the disabled. However, many doubted the issuance of disability certificates.
Issuing certificates for disabled people was explained in the draft as a way to create advantages for disable people in accessing social welfare.
NA vice chairman Huynh Ngoc Son, however, said that leaving the rights of verifying disabled people to communal People's Committees as stated in the draft would create biases regarding high levels of bureaucracy and civil servants.
Son suggested that the approval process should be handled at the district or provincial level to guarantee fairness.
Chairwoman of the NA's Social Affairs Committee Truong Thi Mai shared the same concern, saying that the verifying councils made their decisions based on visible disabilities, which would make it complicated and create more difficulties for disable people.
On the other hand, the chairman of the NA's Council of Nationalities, Ksor Phuoc, was pessimistic to the extent that the draft encouraged businesses to hire disable people by placing favourable conditions for these businesses.
Instead of encouraging, it should bind businesses to have 2-3 per cent disabled workers, as in reality, most businesses avoid recruiting any disabled workers.
Lawmakers also suggested that the law should be more specific to guarantee fair conditions for foreign disabled people living in Viet Nam.
Chairman of the Ombudsmen Committee Tran The Vuong said that the law should be more specific to avoid misinterpretation.
He said that the draft should state the benefits that foreign disabled people could have in Viet Nam instead of generalising it with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Statistics from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs show that there are around 5.3 million disabled people nationwide. Of which, 600,000 people are still able to work and 70,000 people have access to vocational training.
According to Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, 600,000 disable people are now benefiting from Government policies.
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