National Assembly (NA) deputies passed a Resolution on the 2014 State budget estimates with 87.95 percent of votes in the November 12 morning session of the 13th NA’s sixth meeting.

According to the resolution, the State budget’s total collection will be 782.7 trillion VND (37.27 billion USD) and total spending, 1,006.7 trillion VND, leading to a 224 trillion VND overspend, or 5.3 percent of the country’s GDP.

The NA deputies also asked the Government to intensify financial disciplines and rules, strictly implement the fiscal policy, and restructure budget collection and spending to ensure macroeconomic stability.

According to the deputies, the Government should also reduce the expenses for State management apparatus, cut down expenses for meetings, celebrations and overseas trips and not buy public cars except in cases regulated by the law.

The same percentage of votes was also gained for a resolution on the adjustment of the State budget estimates for 2013.

Under the document, the Government was assigned by the NA to increase the State budget’s overspending to compensate for the central budget’s loss, but by no more than 195.5 trillion VND (equivalent to 5.3 percent of the estimated GDP).

The Government continued to ask localities to reduce spending, cut down unnecessary and ineffective expenses, and allowed localities that lack money to compensate for budget deficits by using 70 percent of the financial reserves fund to cover the shortage in budget revenues.

During the session, member of the NA Standing Committee and Chairman of the NA Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc presented a draft resolution to increase the number of deputy prime ministers from four to five.

The NA voted on the document with 87.75 percent in favour.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung submitted proposals to ask the NA to approve the appointment of Minister and Chairman of the Governmental Office Vu Duc Dam and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh to the deputy PM post.

The NA deputies discussed the PM’s proposals at the end of the morning session and gave opinions on the revised Notary Public Law in the afternoon.

Source: VNA