State Treasury: 30 years of consolidation and reform

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Operations in NinhThuan State Treasury

Functions and tasks constantly improved

From the initial functions and tasks which only focused on revenue sources, disbursing funds at the request of financial agencies, mobilising and managing loan sources, repaying debts, accounting State budget revenue and expenditure, the functions and tasks of the State Treasury have been constantly improved and supplemented with the introduction of the 1996 State Budget Law (supplementing the task of controlling recurrent expenditures) and the re-organization of the General Department of Investment in 2000 (supplementing the task of controlling investment expenditures). In particular, to reform and modernise the State Treasury in accordance with international practices, the State Treasury developed and submitted to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister for approval the State Treasury Development Strategy to 2020 in Decision No. 138/2007 / QD-TTg dated August 21, 2007. With the Strategy, the State Treasury has implemented two new functions, namely budget management and State accounting. Thus, the State Treasury has basically become a modern treasury agency, including: State management on the state budget fund, State financial funds; State budget management; State accounting; mobilising capital for the State budget and for development and investment.

The implementation of these functions and duties has contributed to improving the efficiency and transparency of the public financial management system, creating public confidence in the taxable currencies used efficiently and effectively.

Thanks to the continuous improvement of its functions and tasks, over the past few years, the State Treasury system has always strived to succeed in the assigned tasks, focusing on reforming and improving the quality of State budget fund management and State budget management and capital mobilization and State accounting. So far, the State budget collection and spending have been associated with information technology application in order to create favorable conditions for taxpayers, state budget-using units and investors. Thereby, State budget collection and spending have been publicized and transparent and saved time, contributing to improving the efficiency of the use of the State budget capital and ensuring the safety of the State's money and assets.

The State Treasury has also completed the construction of a centralised payment account system of the State Treasury at commercial banking systems, serving as a basis for gathering budget from localities to the central level. From November 1, 2019, 100% of the state budget balance has been transferred by the State Treasury to the State Bank, officially forming the unique treasury account in accordance with international practice and supporting the State Bank in managing monetary policy and controlling inflation. In addition, the idle state budget is also used to advance to the Central budget and local budgets to invest in socio-economic development projects; or make term deposits at commercial banks according to the prescribed regime.

An outstanding stepof the State Treasury system is the pioneering of information technologyinmanagement. Although in the early years of its re-establishment, the facilities and equipment for State Treasury operations were still inadequate, but from the viewpoint of taking advantage of the strength of technology, the State Treasury has always prioritized and mobilised resources to modernise management technology, enhance the application of information technology toits all management and administration activities. Thus, advanced information technology has been gradually studied and applied, enhancinginteraction, connection, and information exchange between the State Treasury and relevant ministries, branches, agencies and units and improving efficiency of operations. A remarkable achievement in modernising the State Treasury management technology over the past 30 years is the construction and successful implementation of the treasury and budget management information system (TABMIS) nationwide; thereby, closely linking the stages of the state budget management process, especially between the implementation stage and other stages, contributing to improving the quality and timeliness of reported information.

Personnel system consolidated

In addition to constantly improving the functions and tasks, State Treasury system has always attached importance to consolidating the personnel system. The organizational structure of the State Treasury has been arranged and rationalized according to the Party’s and State’s guidelines and policies in each period, meeting requirements and ensuring the promotion of the role of the Central agency in supportinglocalitiesin performing public financial management in their respectiveareas. In recent years, the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ / TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 6th Conference of the XII Central Committee on further reforming and organizing the structure of the political system in a streamlined, effective and efficient manner. From 2015 to the present, the State Treasury system has reduced 251 divisions under provincial State Treasuries, cut 58 State Treasuries at district and equivalent level; and reduced nearly 2,000 teams at district State Treasuries. In terms of personnel arrangement, the State Treasury has reduced more than 620 leading positions at the division level and equivalent level; and cut more than 2,600 leading positions at team level.

Along with that, the development of human resources has always been a focus, through planning, training and retraining, the quality and quantity of human resources have been ensured. The leadership and management contingent has professional qualifications, state management and political theory in accordance with regulations; the proportion of State Treasury civil servants and employees with university or higher degrees accounts for about 73%; therefore, meeting the requirements and political tasks set in the new period.

It can be affirmed that the achievements of the State Treasury during the last 30 years of growth and development are due to the attention of the Party, the State, the close guidance and direction of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Finance and the support of ministries, agencies and localities for the State Treasury system; and especially the tradition of solidarity, unity and devotion for the cause that generations of state treasury leaders have built, preserved and promoted. These results have created a solid foundation for the State Treasury to continue the reform and modernisation activities in the future, together with the Finance sector to strive to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, State and people, contributing to the construction, development and protection of the country.