Joint Circular No. 50/TT/LB on guiding the management, allocation, and use of support capital for ethnic minorities, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Regarding guidance on management, allocation, and utilization of funds to support ethnic minorities, particularly the Khmer and Cham ethnic groups

____________________________

To implement Resolution No. 22/NQTW dated November 27, 1989 of the Central Party Committee on major policies for economic and social development in mountainous regions, and Decision No. 72/HĐBT dated May 13, 1990 of the Government on specific policies for economic and social development in mountainous regions.

To ensure that State budget funds allocated to support ethnic minority groups, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups, are used for their intended purposes and with effectiveness; the Ministry of Finance and the National Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions provide guidance on managing, allocating, and utilizing funds to support these ethnic groups as follows:

I/ GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

1/ Funds to support ethnic minority groups, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups, are State budget funds aimed at helping these ethnic groups stabilize their lives and gradually integrate into the local community. These funds must be directly invested in households and include the following contents:

- Support for living conditions

- Support for production development in the form of low-interest or interest-free loans.

2/ Annual funds to support ethnic minority groups, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups, are balanced into the provincial budget by the Provincial Department of Finance and Prices, which allocates them through the State Treasury system directly to households and must settle accounts according to current regulations.

3/ The National Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions is responsible for guiding, inspecting, and supervising the use of funds to support ethnic minority groups in difficult circumstances in various localities, ensuring that the funds are used for their intended purposes, effectively, and in accordance with established regulations.

II- SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

1/ Recipients, expenditure items, and expenditure levels: 

Funds to support ethnic minority groups, particularly those in extremely difficult circumstances, aim to help these ethnic groups stabilize their lives and gradually integrate into the local community, including the following main expenditure items and levels:

- Support for living conditions for extremely poor households without sufficient food or essential household items such as clothing, bedding, pots, knives, shovels... each household receives from 200,000 VND to 300,000 VND.

- Support for production development includes providing seedlings, livestock, building household gardens, small-scale production and processing...

To maximize the effectiveness of the supported capital, production support funds may be provided in the form of low-interest (0.3%/month) or interest-free loans.

+ Low-interest loan amount not exceeding 1.5 million VND per household, repayment period not exceeding two years.

+ Interest-free loan amount not exceeding 1 million VND per household, repayment period not exceeding one year. The recipients of interest-free loans are extremely poor households without means of production. Those eligible for low-interest loans are households with means of production but lacking capital for production development.

2/ Planning, allocating, and distributing funds:

a) Planning and allocating funds:

Each year, based on the specific situation of ethnic minority groups, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups, in extremely difficult circumstances, the Ethnic Minority Board or the organization responsible for ethnic minority work in the province prepares a budget estimate for supporting these ethnic groups, which is sent to the Provincial Department of Finance and Prices and the Provincial Planning Committee for consolidation and submission to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and forwarding to the National Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions; the National Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Regions consolidates and prepares a budget estimate for supporting ethnic minority groups, particularly the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups, in extremely difficult circumstances, which is sent to the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Committee for submission to the Prime Minister for approval and allocation of the annual budget plan for each locality.

Based on the allocated support funds, the Ethnic Minority Board or the organization responsible for ethnic minority work in the province prepares a budget allocation plan for each district according to the above contents, which is sent to the Provincial Department of Finance and Prices and the Provincial Planning Committee for consolidation and submission to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and allocation to each district.

b) Regulations for fund distribution:

- For living support funds:

The examination and support for households of ethnic minorities in extremely difficult circumstances should be organized through public evaluation, with proposals from the District People's Committee, opinions from the United Front Organization at the district level, and approval by the Chairman of the District People's Committee.

- For production support funds:

Households wishing to borrow production funds must submit a loan application detailing the purpose, amount requested, and repayment period (including interest if applicable), which should be evaluated publicly, with proposals from the District People's Committee, the United Front Organization at the district level, the Branch of the State Treasury at the district level, and approval by the Chairman of the District People's Committee.

c) Distribution of funds:

Based on the approved support funds for ethnic minorities in extremely difficult circumstances, the Provincial Department of Finance and Prices organizes direct distribution of living support funds and distributes production support funds through the State Treasury system for the State Treasury at the district level to lend to beneficiaries listed in the approved list by the District People's Committee.

For production support funds, in addition to the aforementioned criteria, the State Treasury implements distribution and lending according to the existing job creation loan mechanism. The State Treasury has the right to suspend lending when misuse is detected.

3/ Repayment of loans, extension of repayment periods, and reduction or exemption of loan debts:

Upon maturity, borrowers must repay the full loan amount and interest (if applicable) to the State Treasury where they borrowed. If borrowers fail to repay upon maturity, the State Treasury reports to the Chairman of the District People's Committee for resolution.

In cases where natural disasters, epidemics, etc., result in reduced income and inability to repay, borrowers must apply for an extension of the repayment period or request partial or full exemption of the loan amount. The Chairman of the District People's Committee will decide on extending the repayment period or partially or fully exempting the loan amount.

The recovered loan principal and interest (if any) shall be retained by the province to serve as capital for continued lending to other households to support their livelihoods.

4/ Report and settle funds: 

The State Treasury shall organize accounting records to monitor the amount of support funds provided to ethnic minorities in difficulty; at the end of each quarter and year, it shall prepare reports on the settlement of support funds for ethnic minorities in difficulty and submit them to the Department of Finance and Prices.

The Department of Finance and Prices shall be responsible for reviewing and approving the settlement of support funds for ethnic minorities in difficulty according to current regulations on review and approval of settlements, report to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, and simultaneously send to the Ethnic Minorities Commission and Mountainous Areas for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister, while also sending to the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission.

5/ The Ethnic Minorities Commission and Mountainous Areas shall base on the specific situation of each locality during each period, guide localities in effectively implementing special support funds for particularly difficult ethnic minorities, conduct inspections and supervision of fund usage to ensure that funds are used for their intended purposes, efficiently, and reach every household.

6/ The implementation of organizing and executing special support funds for ethnic minorities in difficulty may involve some emerging tasks such as organizing meetings to disseminate and implement policies, discussing implementation measures, formulating allocation plans, organizing accounting records and forms for monitoring and management, organizing inspection teams, supervising, evaluating... Therefore, there needs to be a budget to ensure these activities. The Joint Ministries have agreed that the expenditure rate for these activities from the capital of 500 million dong and above is 2%, below 500 million dong is 3% of the actual loan amount, calculated within the total special support funds for particularly difficult ethnic minorities, and assign the Department of Finance and Prices to base on the workload, prepare a budget proposal for the Provincial People's Committee to approve additional funding for each implementing unit.

III- IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

This Circular takes effect from January 1, 1995. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please report to the Joint Ministries for consideration and adjustment to make it appropriate.