Minister of Finance: Corruption by officials has not been completely prevented

On the morning of May 23, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, on behalf of the Government, reported to the National Assembly the results of practicing thrift and fighting waste in 2022.

The Minister of Finance said that in 2022, the Government will build a team of professional officials, civil servants and public employees with adequate qualities, qualifications and capacity.

In the 2020-2022 period, ministries, branches and localities recruited 18,867 civil servants and 125,104 public employees. Of these, 258 people were recruited according to the policies stipulated in Decree 140 on policies to attract and create a source of cadres from excellent graduates and young scientists.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc. Photo: QH

According to Minister Ho Duc Phoc, tightening discipline, administrative discipline and power control, and handling strictly, promptly and resolutely have removed from the State apparatus cadres, civil servants and public employees who have committed violations or failed to fulfill their duties.

Specifically, from 2020 to June 2022, agencies and units have reviewed and handled nearly 100,000 cases, of which recruitment decisions were revoked in over 1,200 cases.

The Minister of Finance said that the reform of the salary regime continues to have positive changes, the Government submitted to the National Assembly for approval a number of new salary policies.

Specifically, increasing the basic salary for cadres, civil servants and public employees to 1.8 million VND/month; increasing 12.5% ​​of pensions and social insurance benefits for those guaranteed by the State budget and providing additional support for those who retired before 1995 with low benefits...

The Government requests ministries, branches and localities to pay attention to the work of building and improving the quality of cadres, civil servants and public employees, promptly grasp their thoughts and aspirations and improve the working environment.

At the same time, there are timely support policies for cadres, civil servants, and public employees in difficult economic circumstances... to promptly overcome the situation of cadres, civil servants, and public employees asking to quit their jobs or quit their jobs.

However, according to the Minister of Finance, the situation of officials and civil servants harassing and causing trouble for people and businesses in handling work has not been completely prevented.

Coordination between ministries and agencies is sometimes disjointed, lacking cohesion, untimely, and of low quality; a small number of cadres, civil servants, and public employees have quit or changed jobs, especially in the fields of health and education.

Handling of issues arising from the arrangement and organization of the apparatus still has limitations; implementing autonomy for public service units has not met the requirements; some regulations on commune-level cadres, civil servants and part-time workers in communes, villages and residential groups are not suitable to reality.

In addition, delays in processing and returning results of file processing still occur at all administrative levels, mainly in the fields of: Land, construction, labor - war invalids and social affairs...

There is a situation of capital waiting for the project to complete procedures.

The report shows that the total amount of savings in state budget and capital in 2022 according to reports from ministries, branches and localities is 53,887 billion VND. Of which, savings in regular expenditures are about 716.9 billion VND.

The Minister of Finance said that the savings due to the implementation of the spending contract mechanism and the delegation of financial autonomy to ministries, branches and localities in 2022 is 3,494 billion VND, of which some units have high results such as: Hanoi is 1,173 billion VND, Ho Chi Minh City is 1,220 billion VND...

Panorama of the National Assembly session. Photo: QK

"The management and procurement of public assets in ministries, branches and localities in 2022 will continue to change, ensuring strictness and savings," said Mr. Ho Duc Phoc.

Specifically, from 2016 to the end of 2022, the whole country has purchased 4,192 new public cars, 183 other means of transport and 29,853 machines and equipment. The national database on public assets continues to be updated and operated effectively, the total original value of public assets updated is 1.7 million billion VND.

Regarding the management and use of office buildings and official residences, according to Mr. Phuc, the Ministry of Finance has approved a plan to rearrange and handle real estate under its authority for 30,708 real estate facilities of ministries, central agencies, and state-owned enterprises.

The Minister of Finance said that the planning of state budget investment capital for some projects is not close to the implementation capacity, leading to the inability to allocate all assigned capital plans.

“There is still a situation of “capital waiting for the project to complete procedures”. Capital is estimated first and then investment procedures are carried out or procedures for extending agreements are carried out. That leads to a longer time for capital allocation for projects using ODA capital and preferential loans from foreign donors,” Minister Ho Duc Phoc added.