2017年-世界发展银行全球_Vietnam_Public_Expenditure_Review___Fiscal_Policies_towards_Sustainability_Efficiency_and_Equity_102页_6mb

Summary of Vietnam Public Expenditure Review

Core Content

The Vietnam Public Expenditure Review (PER) is a collaborative effort between the Government of Vietnam and the World Bank Group (WBG), with support from other development partners such as DFAT, GAC, SECO, and UKaid. The report outlines a comprehensive analysis of Vietnam's fiscal policies, focusing on sustainability, efficiency, and equity in public spending. It presents a roadmap for fiscal reforms aimed at addressing current challenges and supporting the country's transition to a middle to high-income economy.

Main Objectives

The PER aims to:

• Pursue fiscal consolidation in a growth-friendly manner to ensure fiscal sustainability.
• Align public spending with national priorities, particularly in the areas of sustainable and equitable growth.
• Strengthen accountability and performance management to ensure effective use of public resources.
• Enhance institutional capacity for better fiscal management, including the use of advanced public financial management (PFM) tools.
• Improve the distribution of public services and ensure that the benefits of fiscal reforms are equitably shared.

Key Findings and Views

1. Fiscal Sustainability and Consolidation

• Vietnam's fiscal space has narrowed due to persistent deficits, rising public debt, and declining tax revenues.
• The country faces increased vulnerability to external shocks and re-financing risks.
• A gradual and growth-friendly fiscal consolidation is necessary to maintain fiscal sustainability and ensure enough space for investment and social spending.

2. Alignment with National Priorities

• Public spending should be better aligned with national development goals, particularly sustainable and equitable growth.
• There are gaps in the distribution of public services, especially in education and health, which need to be addressed.
• Decentralization has increased, but it must be balanced with functional devolution and capacity building at the subnational level.

3. Accountability and Performance Management

• Strengthening fiscal comprehensiveness and transparency is essential.
• Performance-based budgeting and results-oriented management should be enhanced.
• External audit and oversight need to be improved to ensure accountability.
• Management information systems should be upgraded to support better data and decision-making.

Key Information

Fiscal Challenges

• Tax revenue-to-GDP has been on a downward trend.
• Public debt is rising, and re-financing risks are increasing.
• Recurrent spending is increasing relative to capital spending.
• Government wage bill is growing rapidly due to non-base wage increases and headcount growth.
• Public expenditure per capita varies significantly between provinces, with poorer regions receiving more support after central transfers.

Sectoral Insights

• Education:
  • Teaching hours are shortest in ASEAN.
  • Household spending on education is high relative to public spending.
  • Access to education remains unequitable across income groups.
• Health:
  • Total health spending is higher than most Asian countries.
  • Pharmaceutical spending is high relative to peer countries and OECD average.
• Agriculture:
  • A large share of agricultural expenditure is still on irrigation.
  • Alternative crops to rice could offer higher margins.
• Transport:
  • Capital expenditure is preferred over operational expenditure.
  • Recurrent expenditure gaps are significant in certain regions.

Policy Recommendations

The PER proposes 68 specific policy measures, including:

• Enhancing revenue mobilization and reform of tax systems.
• Restructuring budget allocations between central and local governments, and between capital and recurrent spending.
• Implementing institutional reforms to support fiscal decentralization and accountability.
• Strengthening PFM systems, including fiscal forecasting, medium-term budgeting, and debt management.
• Improving performance management and results-oriented budgeting.
• Enhancing financial transparency and external audit mechanisms.
• Strengthening management information systems for better data utilization.

Conclusion

The PER emphasizes the importance of sustainable and efficient fiscal policies in supporting Vietnam's continued development and transition to a middle to high-income country. It calls for a concerted effort by the Government of Vietnam and its development partners to implement the proposed reforms and ensure that public resources are used effectively and equitably. The report is expected to contribute to raising public confidence in the country's modern and efficient governance.

Summary of Proposed Policy Options

• Fiscal Consolidation: Implement gradual and growth-friendly fiscal consolidation to ensure sustainability.
• Revenue Mobilization: Improve tax systems and increase revenue collection.
• Spending Restructuring: Align spending with national priorities, enhance efficiency, and ensure equitable distribution.
• Institutional Reforms: Strengthen the capacity of subnational authorities and improve accountability frameworks.
• PFM Capacity Building: Introduce advanced PFM tools such as fiscal forecasting, medium-term budgeting, and integrated financial information systems.
• Performance Management: Focus on results-oriented budgeting and performance monitoring.
• Audit and Oversight: Enhance external audit and oversight mechanisms.
• Public Service Delivery: Improve the delivery of public services, especially in education and health.

Key Contributors

• Government of Vietnam: Various officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Ministries of Education, Health, and Transport.
• World Bank: Senior economists, specialists, and consultants from the Global Practice and Macro Fiscal Management teams.
• Other Development Partners: DFAT, GAC, SECO, and UKaid contributed technical and financial support.

References

• World Bank and the Government of Vietnam jointly prepared the report.
• The report is part of a broader effort to support Vietnam's fiscal and economic development.
• It includes figures, tables, and technical analysis to support the findings and recommendations.