Removing financial difficulties in operating two-level government

(Chinhphu.vn) - The Government and the Ministry of Finance have directed strongly and accompanied localities in implementing the two-tier local government model. Many initial positive results have been recorded, but difficulties in finance, accounting human resources and infrastructure still need to be resolved.

Conference to disseminate and answer questions related to the financial and budgetary fields when organizing two-level local government - Photo: VGP/HT

The Government accompanies localities in implementing new models

At the online conference with localities to disseminate and answer questions related to the financial and budgetary field when organizing two-level local government for commune level organized by the Ministry of Finance on the afternoon of September 12, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tan, Deputy Director of the State Budget Department (Ministry of Finance), emphasized: The Government has organized many forms of support for localities, from online, direct to "hand-holding" in each locality.

The Ministry of Finance has submitted and the Government has supported localities with 77,000 billion VND to spend on administrative unit arrangement, ensuring facilities for agencies and units after the arrangement. In addition, the Government has allocated more than 42,000 billion VND to pay policies for officials who retire under Decree No. 178 and 67 of the Government.

With the strong direction of the Government, ministries and branches, and the proactiveness of localities, many positive results have been achieved. Many places have promptly arranged and allocated commune-level budgets, ensuring that spending tasks are not interrupted.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tan, Deputy Director of the State Budget Department (Ministry of Finance) - Photo: VGP/HT

According to Mr. Tan, most commune-level budget units have opened accounts at the State Treasury, promptly paying salaries, allowances and regular expenses to cadres, civil servants and public employees. In addition, some localities have proactively decentralized and clearly authorized budget management, and at the same time arranged additional accounting staff to meet the needs of operating the new apparatus.

The Departments of Finance, the State Treasury and commune-level agencies have made efforts to remove difficulties and ensure smooth operation of commune-level authorities after the reorganization. However, the implementation process still has bottlenecks that need to be resolved.

Identifying difficulties, localities need to specify

Regarding budgetary finance, the allocation of estimates is still slow. Some localities have not completed the adjustment of revenue decentralization and expenditure tasks between the provincial and commune budgets. Some places have not yet assigned the 2025 budget estimates to the commune level and still have to make provisional allocations. In particular, the central budget reserve for unexpected tasks and social security policies in remote, isolated and island areas is still limited. Regarding accounting personnel, some communes have not yet arranged a chief accountant or an accountant in charge, causing difficulties in opening accounts at the Treasury and paying salaries to employees...

Regarding the proposed key solutions, the Ministry of Finance and related units have proposed specific solutions such as ensuring uninterrupted budget: Localities need to coordinate with the State Treasury to provide guidance on temporary allocation and timely allocation of budget estimates to pay salaries, allowances and regular expenses; speed up the progress of opening and using accounts at the State Treasury, complete documents and procedures, increase meetings to remove obstacles related to the signatures of chief accountants and account holders; proactively advise competent authorities, thoroughly resolve expenses, complete the positions of chief accountants and account holders; strictly manage public assets and revenue sources through reviewing and declaring assets, implementing measures to manage revenue from business households, ensuring correct, sufficient and timely collection into the budget.

In addition, promote coordination in implementing National Assembly resolutions and Government decrees; proactively remove obstacles within local authority.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Director of the State Treasury - Photo: VGP/HT

Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Director of the State Treasury, said that after the Ministry of Finance issued Official Dispatch No. 06, the progress of opening accounts and paying salaries at the commune level has clearly changed.

Before August 15, up to 12% of commune-level units had not opened accounts (more than 6,700 units). By September 9, the number had dropped to 1,666 units. Up to now, only 256 commune-level units have not opened accounts, accounting for 0.45%.

Similarly, regarding salary payment, on August 15, there were 14,533 units that had not paid August salary, now there are only 372 units (0.11%). The main reason is still the lack of accounting staff. The State Treasury will continue to coordinate with localities, striving to resolve the issue in the shortest time possible.

To solve the problem of accounting human resources, Mr. Bui Huu Phu, Deputy Director of the Department of Accounting Management and Supervision, informed: The Ministry of Finance has issued many documents to remove difficulties. The documents allow the head of the unit to temporarily assign a qualified person to be in charge of accounting and register transaction signatures with the Treasury.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued guidelines on job positions and the authority to appoint chief accountants. Thanks to this, many localities have opened accounts, but some places still lack personnel. The Ministry of Finance recommends that localities continue to review and promptly arrange chief accountants or accounting managers who meet the prescribed standards before December 31, 2025.

Synthesizing recommendations from local practices, Mr. Le Thanh Quan, Director of the Department of Local and Territorial Economy (Ministry of Finance) recommended that localities need to clearly quantify data, how many accountants are missing, and what is the roadmap to overcome them. In addition, the Ministry of Finance plans to establish working groups to directly go to the grassroots to resolve difficulties, combining with regular online meetings.

Issues under the Ministry's authority will be resolved immediately, ensuring progress. Localities also need to be proactive in completing procedures to open accounts and arrange human resources, avoiding delays that affect salary payments and budget operations.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Thinh, Director of the Department of Public Asset Management (Ministry of Finance) - Photo: VGP/HT

Mr. Nguyen Tan Thinh, The Director of the Department of Public Asset Management (Ministry of Finance) said that the unit has reported three times at online conferences to the commune level on the arrangement and allocation of public assets when implementing the administrative unit arrangement. The preparation and implementation process has basically completed the assigned tasks, ensuring the facilities to serve the new provincial and commune-level units.

However, in reality, there are still some places that have surpluses and others that have shortages, especially in terms of headquarters, vehicles and equipment. Currently, there are 354 communes nationwide that have not been equipped with cars; 545 units have machinery and equipment that do not meet quality requirements, especially in the context of digital transformation.

Director Nguyen Tan Thinh emphasized that the department has now entered the "post-arrangement" phase - the most difficult phase, due to the many difficulties in handling headquarters and real estate facilities. The Ministry of Finance has issued full guidance documents, only amending and supplementing regulations related to infrastructure assets remains. A major challenge is that the staff in charge of public assets still lacks experience, with more than 2,000 communes not having staff knowledgeable in this field.

To overcome this, the Department of Public Asset Management has organized 16 training courses in 34 provinces and cities, with more than 10,000 staff participating, and posted teaching materials on an online platform to support localities. Director Nguyen Tan Thinh requested localities to soon issue documents on decentralization, plans for arranging and handling public assets, and assign specific tasks to units responsible for preservation and management to avoid loss and degradation, especially during the rainy and stormy season.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi speaks at the Conference - Photo: VGP/HT

In his concluding remarks, the leader of the Ministry of Finance emphasized: Implementing the two-level local government model is a major policy, directly affecting the administrative apparatus, budget and people's lives. With the strong direction of the Central Government, the coordination of ministries and branches and the determination of localities, the implementation work is gradually removing difficulties, creating a foundation to stabilize the budget, ensuring smooth administrative operations, contributing to maintaining political and social stability.

Many problems that were raised at the July 26 meeting regarding funding, finance, and budget for local government operations have now been basically resolved. Some localities still have problems with account opening, accounting staff arrangement, and income policies for officials and civil servants, which are expected to be resolved next week.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Chi assessed: Overall, no locality reported any difficulties with legal regulations. The problems mainly arose in the implementation or due to specific conditions in each locality.

The Deputy Minister affirmed that when the Department of Finance provides good advice and local leaders focus on directing, problems will be resolved quickly, as in the case of Ho Chi Minh City or Tuyen Quang. Regarding technical problems in budget management, he directed the State Budget Department and the State Treasury to coordinate to resolve them.

The Ministry of Finance will also organize training next week for officials down to the commune and ward levels on business registration and related operations, with the Department of Enterprise Development as the focal point. The Deputy Minister paid special attention to the management, arrangement and handling of public assets, requiring the Departments of Finance to clearly assign responsibilities and implement in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, avoiding waste and loss.

Regarding policies and regimes for officials when arranging the new model, the Deputy Minister said that the funding source has been guaranteed. Some cases of late payment will be handled jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Particularly, the policies and gifts of the Party and State for policy beneficiaries must be completed before September 15, the State Treasury is directly responsible for any cases of late payment.

"The difficulties in the process of implementing the two-level government model are inevitable. The important thing is to establish a timely and effective resolution mechanism, quickly stabilize the model, and promote its effectiveness in accordance with the goals of the Party and the State," said Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Chi.

Huy Thang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/go-vuong-kho-khan-ve-tai-chinh-trong-van-hanh-chinh-quyen-hai-cap-102250912184455725.htm