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Vietnam FINANCE
Budget
The government allocated resources through its annual plan,
which in the 1980s included the annual budget and credit plan.
The Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the State Planning
Commission, prepared the budget for approval by the Standing
Committee of the National Assembly. Both the fiscal year
(
FY--see Glossary) and the annual plan year corresponded to the Western
calendar year.
The state budget included the revenues and expenditures of
the central government, 38 provincial governments, and more than
500 local governments. The state economic enterprises forwarded
the bulk of their profits to the state treasury. Tax revenue
accounted for about one-third of total budgetary revenue.
Tax measures introduced in 1983 included the imposition of
new agricultural levies based on the potential output of
collectives rather than actual per capita output and the actual
output from private plots (previously exempted from the
agricultural tax). In addition, more enterprises were made
subject to taxation. Subsequently, total tax revenue from
agricultural as well as nonagricultural cooperatives and the
private sector increased, reflecting higher official and freemarket prices, more efficient tax collection, and the continued
expansion of economic activity.
In the 1980s, Vietnamese authorities did not release budget
figures. Data prepared for the 1984 visit of IMF officials,
however, revealed a 1983 budget deficit of D20 billion
(approximately US$2.2 billion), largely financed by increases in
the money supply, the sale of taxes paid in kind, the sale of
government-enterprise products, aid in kind, and the various
taxes levied on the free market. These revenues were offset by
large outlays on employment in the state sector and purchases
(primarily of agricultural products) from peasants and
cooperatives. The payment of bonuses to production workers, the
attempt to match free-market prices, and the high level of food
subsidies to the urban population also constituted major budget
expenditures.
Data as of December 1987
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