Covid-19 vaccine Fund: Transparency and publicity in the process of depositing idle money at bank

In July, the fund will spend about VND 2,000 billion on the purchase of vaccines at the request of the Ministry of Health. Source: Internet

Can't buy a vaccine, idle money will be deposited at the bank

According to the Management Board of the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund, it is expected that in July, the fund will spend about VND 2,000 billion on the purchase of vaccines at the request of the Ministry of Health in which part will be deducted from liquidity provision, with the remaining amount deposited into commercial banks in accordance with the regulations.

Luu Hoang, Director of the Management Board of the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund, Director of the Treasury Management Department (State Treasury) said according to the regulations, the amount of idle money of the Covid-19 vaccine fund is expected to be deposited at commercial banks for preserving and developing capital for the fund. This has been stipulated in Circular 41/2021/TT-BTC dated June 2, 2021 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the organisation, operation, management, use and accounting, settlement and disclosure of financial statements of the Covid-19 vaccine fund.

Along with that, the process of selecting commercial banks for the State Treasury is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree 24/2016/ND-CP dated April 5, 2016 of the Government stipulating State fund management regime and Circular 64/2019/TT-BTC dated September 16, 2019 of the Ministry of Finance amending Circular 314/2016/TT-BTC dated November 28, 2016 guiding Decree 24/2016/ND-CP.

“This selection ensures publicity, transparency and fairness based on the rating of the State Bank as well as specific evaluation criteria on total assets, total equity, credit quality, etc. Accordingly, the commercial banks selected by the State Treasury and the fund are all reputable, capable with the principle of ensuring safety in financial management of the Fund," Luu Hoang said.

The Fund Management Board is conducting the bidding process for the fund's idle money and it is expected there will be a bid invitation sent to some commercial banks this week.

The submission process is strict and public

According to Luu Hoang, the deposit of idle money of the Covid-19 vaccine fund is also carried out as the same as the process of depositing idle State treasury temporarily of the State Treasury.

The process is conducted strictly, openly and transparently step by step, including notifying the demand of fund's deposit to commercial banks; receive and open deposit offers from commercial banks; identify interest rates and deposit volume based on the principle of competition on interest rates and sign deposit contracts with commercial banks.

In the near future, the Covid-19 vaccine fund is coordinating with commercial banks to carry out the manual deposit process. In parallel, the fund is also rushing to prepare technical conditions to implement the deposit acceptance process and sign deposit contracts electronically within the next two months at the latest.

According to a representative of the Covid-19 vaccine fund, all sponsors, supports and voluntary contributions of organisations and individuals to the fund; interest on deposits of the fund at the State Treasury and commercial banks (both demand and term) are sources of revenue of the fund and are used to support and finance the purchase and import of vaccines, research and domestic production of vaccines and use Covid-19 vaccines in accordance with regulations.

To facilitate people and organisations to monitor the fund's activities, the information on the amount of mobilised money, the list of organisations and individuals sponsoring, contributing and profits from idle deposit activities of the fund at the bank, as well as the general revenue and expenditure situation of the fund, are fully and transparently disclosed on the website of the Ministry of Finance, the electronic portal of the State Treasury, and the fund's electronic information portal and through other forms of publicity.