State Audit of Vietnam discovers $23 million misused government bond proceeds in 2014

May 31, 2016 | 10:22

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According to the most recent report submitted to the prime minister by the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV), the state budget wrongfully disbursed VND510 billion ($23 million) in government bond proceeds in 2014, as was reported by newswire vietnamnet.vn.

Specifically, after the inspection of some cities, provinces, and government agencies’ handling of government bond proceeds, the SAV found that most of them committed misreporting and misusing to variable degrees, causing the 2014 state budget to disburse VND510 billion ($23 million) more than it should have.

Government agencies with the gravest violations are the Ministry of Defence with VND117 billion ($5.2 million) and the Ministry of Transport with VND47 billion ($2.1 million).

Localities misappropriating the highest amounts are the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang with VND100 billion ($4.7 million), the north-western province of Dien Bien with VND56 billion ($2.5 million), and the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang with VND41 billion ($1.8 million).

Cases of misreporting and misuse of funds involve projects that had been completed before 2014 but continued to receive funds and projects that received more than their ratified total investment. In addition, the SAV found evidence that some localities misreported the amount they had received in the previous years when asking for funding. Kien Giang, Dien Bien, Thai Binh, Lao Cai, and Can Tho all used government bond proceeds to support projects that were granted no access to such funds.

Meanwhile, numerous projects that borrowed government bond proceeds failed to return the money to the state budget after completion or cancellation.

The SAV also reported that as of January 31, 2015, 40 out of 60 audited government agencies and localities held debts in infrastructure construction projects that use government bond proceeds, with the combined debt reaching VND5 trillion ($224 million).

By By Ha Duy

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