Government-by-Government Assessments: Vietnam
During the review period, the government made its executive budget proposal and enacted budget accessible to the public, including online, but the government did not publish its end-of-year report within a reasonable period of time. Information on debt obligations of state-owned enterprises was not publicly available. Publicly available budget documents provided a fairly complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue streams, including natural resource revenues, but the government maintained non-transparent off-budget accounts. Budget information was considered generally reliable, although the government is still in the process of adopting internationally accepted accounting standards. While the supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence, it did review the government’s accounts and made its report publicly available. The procedures, by which the national government awards contracts or licenses for natural resource extraction were specified in law and regulation and appeared to be followed in practice. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not always publicly available. Vietnam’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing its end-of-year budget report within a reasonable period of time;
- publicizing information on state-owned enterprise debt obligations;
- eliminating off-budget accounts or subjecting them to adequate audit and oversight;
- strengthening the independence of the supreme audit institution;
- fully adopting internationally accepted accounting standards; and
- publicizing basic information on natural resource extraction awards.