Budget supervision capacity project launched

HA NOI (VNS)– A US$2.5 million project to enhance the budget supervision capacity of Viet Nam’s elective agencies was launched yesterday.

The project will be jointly run by the National Assembly’s Finance – Budget Committee and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The three-year project will help deputies of the committee, the Ethnic Minority Council and People’s Councils of cities and provinces allocate capital from the State budget and ensure that it serves the intended purposes.

The Ethnic Minority Council will focus on funding programmes to assist ethnic groups as well as ministries and local authorities in mountainous areas.

Deputies will learn techniques for estimating budgets and analysing investment projects. They will also be taught how to appraise the effects projects have on local residents so they can increase sustainable development.

UNDP Country Director Louise Chamberlain said the National Assembly needed to play a stronger role in the budget analysis process, assessing how budget decisions affected the lives of residents, especially vulnerable ones.

Chamberlain also stressed the necessity to improve the transparency, integrity and accountability of the National Assembly and People’s Councils as the administrative reform process continues. – VNS