Công văn 9208/BTC-QLN

In course of giving certification of foreign aid, Ministry of Finance finds that there are several aid items of which the application for certification of foreign aid is submitted but the aid amount/ aid goods have already been advanced/ purchased for a long while inconsistently with regulations in the Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 by Ministry of Finance (Clause 7 Article 7 stipulates that: “Declaration on foreign aid shall be prepared immediately after the project owner receives import documents, or invoices/ receipts of domestic goods/ services, or notice of serving bank or the State Treasury where the project owner’s account for receiving aid is opened”). This facts adversely influence the data comparison, accounting and financial management of foreign aid of state budget.

Thus, Ministry of Finance, pursuant to regulations in the Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010, requests:

1. Ministries and local governments which are governing bodies to instruct affiliated project owners to make declarations on aid money/ goods which have been received in conformity with regulations in order to carry out procedures for certification of foreign aid and record them into state budget accounts, especially aid amounts and goods received in 2017 onwards.  Ministries and local governments shall be responsible for the accuracy of data.

2. Governing bodies are requested to expedite relevant agencies to make refund of advanced amounts on schedule in order to record in end-of-year state budget accounts in accordance with instructions in the Official Dispatch No. 3823/BTC-QLN dated March 23, 2017 by Ministry of Finance on report on collections and advances of foreign aid up to January 31, 2017.

3. In order to facilitate the comparison of data between Ministry of Finance and governing bodies while preparing annual state budget statements as well as stress the responsibility of project owners in course of making statistics, and retention of data and documents, and the role of governing bodies for financial management of foreign aid, Ministry of Finance requests governing bodies to remind project owners to supplement reports on certification of foreign aid of projects, refunded amounts of aid advances and financial statements of projects up to the time when declaration on foreign aid is made and enclose complete declaration on foreign aid.

4. Instructions for each specific case:

a) With regard to aid items (money and goods) which the project owners have received in 2017 but not yet carried out procedures for certification of foreign aid: Project owners must promptly submit declaration on foreign aid to the Ministry of Finance to record state budget collections and advances. Duration of spending items in a financial year must comply with current regulations on state budget. Governing bodies shall send reports on refunded advances to Ministry of Finance on quarterly basis but not later than the time for adjusting final statements of state budget (i.e. January 31, 2018).

b) With regard to aid monetary items which have been accounted as state budget revenues and advanced in 2016 and earlier but procedures for refund of advances are not yet completed with the Ministry of Finance’s request for refund of advances under instructions in the Official Dispatch No. 3823/BTC-QLN: Governing bodies shall continue sending reports on refunded advances to Ministry of Finance for recording actual expenditures. Accounting year is 2017.

c) With regard to aid money which the project owners have received in 2016 and earlier but not yet carried out procedures for certification of foreign aid: Governing bodies shall expedite the project owners to send declaration on foreign aid to Ministry of Finance before September 30, 2017 in order that Ministry of Finance can record advances and actual expenditures in accounts (if requirements for actual expenditures have been satisfied). Accounting year is 2017.

- After September 30, 2017, Ministry of Finance shall suspend certification of foreign aid with respect to aid items which the project owners have received but not yet carried out procedures for certification of foreign aid. Governing bodies and/or project owners shall propose plans for handling capital amounts which have been received but not yet certified as aid items (because of failure to carry out procedures for certification of foreign aid) in accordance with current regulations and reach an agreement on capital transfer (pay taxes increased from transactions related to received funds or refund received capital to the agency transferring such capital in conformity with the agreement).

- After December 31, 2017, with regard to aid items which have been received by project owners in 2016 and earlier, and certified as foreign aid (which have been recorded in state budget collections and advances) but documents proving the spending of such aid items are not enough to record such aid items as actual expenditures, governing bodies and project owners are requested to formulate plans for transferring such aid items to state budget or refunding them to donors in conformity with foreign aid agreement.

- Ministry of Finance requests governing bodies not to propose or give approval for new foreign aid items to project owners who fail to comply with regulations on management of aid funding.

Governing bodies and project owners are requested to implement instructions in this Official Dispatch./.