Joint Circular No. 40/TT-LB provides guidance on managing and operating the state budget for investment in the health sector.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Guidelines for managing
and operating the state budget for investment in the health sector

Pursuant to Decree No. 15/CP dated March 2, 1993 of the Government on the tasks, powers, and responsibilities of ministries and ministerial-level agencies in state management.

Pursuant to Decision No. 168/HĐBT dated May 16, 1992 of the Council of Ministers on amending certain points in Resolution No. 186/HĐBT on decentralization of local budgets and Circular No. 15a/TC-NSNN dated May 28, 1992 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the aforementioned decision.

To facilitate the health sector in reorganizing the primary healthcare network and effectively utilizing investment funds for the health cause, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health provide specific guidelines on managing the health sector's budget as follows:

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

1. Starting from 1993, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission to develop a comprehensive financial plan for the entire health sector to submit to the Government. The financial plan must reflect all sources of revenue and expenditure of the health sector, including those funded by grants, medical fees, health insurance, and other sources.

2. The Ministry of Finance and the Department of Finance and Price Control have the responsibility to fully and promptly allocate funds to the Ministry of Health, relevant Ministries, General Departments, and State Committees (referred to collectively as central ministries and agencies), and to provincial and municipal health departments (for parts funded by local budgets) according to the annual state budget indicators allocated.

Specifically, for health programs managed centrally: After receiving the plan from the Government, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to distribute it to each ministry and locality. Based on the agreed allocation plan, the Ministry of Finance will directly allocate funds to the Ministry of Health (for central facilities under its management) and authorize local finance and price control departments to allocate funds (for parts implemented locally).

3. The health sector is responsible for managing, operating, and using investment funds for the health cause efficiently, and reporting the usage situation to the corresponding financial authority for monitoring and inspection. All revenues and expenditures of the health cause must be recorded in the state budget system, including:

- State budget allocations.

- Grants, support, and donations from foreign countries, international organizations, and individuals abroad for the health sector.

- Medical fee revenues and health insurance revenues.

- Other sources.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The establishment, allocation, distribution, management, and utilization of the health sector's investment budget are specified as follows:

1. Budget planning and allocation:

Based on the annual economic and social planning guidance documents of the State Planning Commission and the annual budget revenue and expenditure planning guidance of the Ministry of Finance, the process of preparing and submitting the financial plan is as follows:

For production and business units and administrative and service units under the direct management of the Ministry of Health: prepare and submit the annual financial income and expenditure plan to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance.

- For central ministries and sectors: prepare and submit the annual financial income and expenditure plan related to health within their jurisdiction to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance.

- For production and business units and administrative and service units under the management of local health departments (including units under the direct management of the Provincial Health Department and district, county, and city health offices): prepare and submit the annual financial income and expenditure plan to the Provincial Health Department and the Provincial Finance Department. The Provincial Health Department, after coordinating with the Provincial Finance and Price Control Department, is responsible for consolidating the local financial income and expenditure plan and submitting it to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance.

- The Ministry of Health is responsible for consolidating the total financial income and expenditure plan of the health sector and submitting it to the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission according to the prescribed time schedule and coordinating with the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission to report to the Government and the National Assembly for approval.

After the health sector's expenditure plan is approved by the National Assembly, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Planning Commission will coordinate to allocate the health service budget to each ministry and locality according to the approved plan to be officially announced by the Government or the competent authority to central ministries and agencies and localities. Specifically, the revenue plan for the health sector will be reviewed by the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission based on the proposal of the Ministry of Health and reported to the Government for assignment of revenue tasks to the Ministry of Health and localities.

2. Management and allocation of health service budgets:

a) For the Central level: Based on the financial plan indicators announced by the Government (or the Ministry of Finance authorized), the Ministry of Health and central ministries and agencies are responsible for distributing and managing the budget for subordinate units. In necessary cases, they may adjust details to fulfill assigned tasks without exceeding the total financial plan indicators announced and are responsible for informing the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission.

For health programs under the central budget directly managed by the Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health is responsible for allocating and ensuring compliance with the expenditure content according to program guidance documents for localities;

- Malaria prevention

- Goiter and cretinism prevention

- Expanded immunization

- AIDS prevention program.

- Anti-degradation.

Based on the quarterly and annual allocation plans of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance will implement fund allocation through the form of "authorized funds" via the national treasury system into account 936 "Authorized Fund Deposits under the Central Budget" opened by the Provincial Finance and Price Control Department at the local treasury branch under chapter 99 type 13 item 01 sub-item 1 "Central support for health programs approved by the Ministry of Health." For the budgets of the above programs located at central facilities under the management of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance will directly allocate them to the Ministry of Health for management and operation according to the current state budget manual.

Based on the authorized funds provided by the central government, the Provincial Finance and Price Control Departments will coordinate with the Provincial Health Departments and allocate them back to the Provincial Health Departments for allocation to subordinate health facilities.

b) For localities: To ensure the management of funds in conjunction with the management of public health services, to facilitate the arrangement of healthcare networks suitable for each locality, annually based on the unified plan and officially assigned targets, the Department of Health shall coordinate with the Department of Finance and Prices to uniformly propose budget allocations for each facility and suggest reasonable disbursement methods to be submitted to the People's Committee of the province or city for consideration and decision on allocating state budgets to healthcare public institutions in the province or city, and to entrust the Department of Health with the management and operation of their use.

3. Every quarter and annually, units and localities are responsible for reporting the final accounts of public health expenditures to the competent authority and the same-level financial agency according to the current accounting reporting system.

4. The Ministry of Finance, the Departments of Finance and Prices of centrally governed provinces and cities have the responsibility to cooperate with the Ministry of Health, other ministries, General Departments, State Committees, and the Departments of Health to inspect the management and use of the budget for central public health services, sectoral public health services, and local public health services; to review the final accounts of the Ministry of Health, the Departments of Health, and sectoral health services according to the regulations set by the State.

III- IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

This Circular takes effect from the date of signature. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they should be reported by units and localities for the Inter-Ministerial Group to study and resolve.