The Law on Public Debt Management (amended) consists of 10 chapters and 63 articles. This Law sets forth public debt management, which covers the borrowing, use of loans and debt repayment and public debt management transactions. This Law takes effect from July 01, 2018 and replaces the Law on Public Debt Management No. 29/2009/QH12.
Article table of contents
The 14th National Assembly of Vietnam approved 06 Laws at its 4th session, including the Law on Public Debt Management (amended).
Public debts specified in this Law include: government debt, sovereign-guaranteed debt, provincial debt.
This Law applies to organizations and individuals involved in the borrowing, use of loans, debt repayment and public debt management transactions.
In comparison with previous regulations, some important amendments and supplements provided in this Law are as follows:
- The task of leading, organizing, and implementing ODA borrowing, foreign concessional loans, etc., which was previously assigned to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, is now assigned to the Ministry of Finance. This is in line with the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the spirit and direction of the Party and the State on administrative reform towards a lean, effective, and efficient organizational principle where one organization can perform multiple tasks, and one task is assigned to one leading agency responsible for it.
- The law also, for the first time, stipulates the indicators of public debt safety, 5-year public borrowing and repayment plans, 3-year public debt management programs, annual public borrowing and repayment plans with specific content, sequence of preparation, decision-making, and responsibilities of related agencies for the set targets. In particular, the limits of government guarantees for 5 years, the limits of guarantees and annual lending are specifically regulated.
- The law clarifies the reporting information, reporting time, and responsibilities of related agencies in providing and disclosing public debt information. This is a new point compared to the Law on Public Debt Management 2009 of Vietnam.
- The Law on Public Debt Management 2017 has supplemented a new concept of "public debt threshold" stipulated in Article 21. Specifically, in addition to the existing concept of the public debt ceiling, the law introduces a threshold to warn when the level of public debt approaches the ceiling, and accordingly, implement measures to handle and control it. The public debt threshold shall be determined by the National Assembly for each period.
- Compared to the current law, the conditions for government guarantees are tightened for each group of subjects, and provisions on government guarantee risk management are added. The management of local government debt is also tightly regulated, clearly defining the responsibilities, borrowing conditions, and debt repayment of local governments.
Notably, regarding the handling of violations against regulations on public debt management, according to the law, the head of the agency or organization must explain and take responsibility when violations occur within the agency or organization. Depending on the nature and extent of the violation, the head of the agency or organization may be disciplined or subject to criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of the law.
- Key word:
- Law on Public Debt Management 2017
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