Decision No. 72/1999/QÐ-BTC on the issuance of the Regulation on the establishment, use, and management of the Accumulation Fund for debt recovery and repayment of foreign debts of the Government from borrowed funds and foreign aid.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.-

Establish the Foreign Debt Repayment Reserve Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Reserve Fund) to concentrate recovered funds from domestic re-lending from foreign loans/grants provided by the Government and fees for government guarantees to ensure the repayment of foreign debts on government loans, while creating a source to address potential risks in cases where the Government guarantees loans from foreign sources for businesses and financial institutions.

Article 2.-

The Reserve Fund shall open foreign currency and Vietnamese Dong accounts at the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade.

The Minister of Finance authorizes the leadership of the Department of Foreign Financial Affairs to be the account holder of the Reserve Fund.

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3.-

Sources of forming the Reserve Fund:

1. Recovered funds from re-lending include:

- Principal and interest from re-lending from foreign loans/grants provided by the Government (after deducting re-lending service fees) according to the terms stipulated in re-lending contracts or supplementary agreements.

- Foreign loan fees (commitment fees, management fees, etc.) payable by the State budget under loan agreements.

2. Fees for government guarantees and recovered debts according to the government guarantee regulations for foreign loans of businesses and financial institutions.

3. Interest income and other revenues from idle capital usage of the Reserve Fund.

4. Other revenue sources as prescribed by the Government.

Article 4.-

Collection of the Reserve Fund shall be carried out as follows:

Based on the guarantee commitment document, the government guarantee issuing agency requests the beneficiary to directly pay the guarantee fee into the Reserve Fund accounts opened at the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade.

Based on the supplementary loan agreement, re-lending contract, the borrower shall deposit recovered re-lending funds into the re-lender's accounts. Based on the payment schedule agreed upon in the mandate contract signed with the Ministry of Finance, the re-lender shall process the transfer of funds to the State budget and simultaneously proceed with procedures to reduce the source of re-lending funds from the State budget.

Re-lending agencies and government guarantee issuing agencies collect payment documents submitted to the Reserve Fund, confirmed by the bank where the payment was made, for accounting purposes. Copies of these payment documents are sent by the re-lending agencies or government guarantee issuing agencies to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Foreign Financial Affairs) for monitoring and accounting.

Any other revenues (if any) shall be deposited into the Reserve Fund following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 5.-

Expenditure from the Reserve Fund shall be carried out as follows:

The Department of Foreign Financial Affairs shall implement payments for the Government's foreign debt (including both direct and re-lending loans) according to current regulations, and is responsible for separately recording payments for re-lending loans.

By no later than the fifth day of the month following the previous month, the Department of Foreign Financial Affairs shall compile the amounts due for re-lending loans in the previous month and based on this, prepare payment vouchers for the Reserve Fund expenditure to repay the State budget at the exchange rate between Vietnamese Dong and foreign currencies on the repayment date.

In cases where the Reserve Fund pays on behalf of projects guaranteed by the Government, the expenditure procedure will also be carried out as described above.

Article 6.-

Planning Revenue and Expenditure of the Reserve Fund:

Annually, in accordance with the progress of the State budget preparation, re-lending agencies are responsible for basing their plans to recover government foreign loans and grants on signed re-lending agreements with project sponsors and submitting them to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Foreign Financial Affairs) for consolidation into the Reserve Fund revenue plan.

The Department of Foreign Financial Affairs bases its annual expenditure plan for foreign debt repayment from the Central State budget on international treaties and government commitments, separating the obligations for re-lending loan repayments to consolidate the Reserve Fund expenditure plan.

The annual expenditure plan of the Reserve Fund serves as the basis for incorporating it into the State budget revenue and expenditure plan from the Reserve Fund. Any difference between the Reserve Fund's revenue and expenditure will be utilized according to the regulations of the Minister of Finance.

Article 7.-

Opening and Managing Reserve Fund Accounts:

The Department of Foreign Financial Affairs shall handle the opening of Reserve Fund deposit accounts at the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade in VND and USD (in case of other foreign currencies, the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade will automatically open additional accounts) to monitor the following sources of revenue:

- Recovery of re-lending loans (including principal, interest, and foreign fees),

- Government guarantee fees,

- Other charges.

Interest generated on Reserve Fund deposit accounts shall be capitalized and recorded in the "other revenue" account.

The Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade shall record transactions on accounts related to the process of collecting and disbursing the Accumulation Fund, and submit a consolidated report monthly to the Ministry of Finance detailing the total income and expenditure in the month, interest accrued on the account, and detailed balances of deposit accounts.

The Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade shall notify the Ministry of Finance (Department of Foreign Financial Affairs) with details about the accounts opened to guide relevant units to transfer funds to appropriate accounts.

Article 8.-

The difference between the annual income and expenditure of the Accumulation Fund may be used for the following purposes according to the decision of the Minister of Finance:

- To lend temporarily to the State Budget for urgent expenditures and to earn interest at the minimum rate necessary to preserve the capital for repayment.

- To lend to the development support fund for a fixed term.

- To purchase foreign currency bonds from commercial banks.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUTHORITIES AND UNITS IN ESTABLISHING, USING, AND MANAGING THE ACCUMULATION FUND

Article 9.-

The Department of Foreign Financial Affairs shall be responsible for:

- Notifying relevant units of the account number of the Accumulation Fund opened at the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade.

- Compiling and preparing the annual income and expenditure plan for the Accumulation Fund.

- Disbursing the Accumulation Fund in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation.

- Determining the amount of temporarily idle funds of the Accumulation Fund that can be utilized during each period, coordinating with relevant Departments and Bureaus to develop usage plans and submit them to the Minister of Finance for approval.

- Conducting accounting work for the Accumulation Fund, regularly reconciling the income deposited into the Accumulation Fund with lending agencies and government guarantee agencies, organizing the recovery of funds used for loans or the purchase of foreign currency bonds.

- Guiding and urging units and organizations guaranteed by the Government to repay foreign loans to pay the guarantee fee into the Accumulation Fund.

- Reporting monthly to the Minister of Finance the balance of the Accumulation Fund, and annually preparing a final report on the use of the Accumulation Fund.

Article 10.-

The State Budget Department shall be responsible for:

- Coordinating with the Department of Foreign Financial Affairs to propose usage plans for temporarily idle funds of the Accumulation Fund during each period and submitting them to the Minister of Finance for approval.

- Recording the collection of state budget revenues from repayments to the State Budget from the Accumulation Fund based on disbursement orders issued by the Department of Foreign Financial Affairs. Regularly reconciling the expenditures from the State Budget to repay debts for loaned projects or government-guaranteed projects with the income recovered by the Accumulation Fund.

Article 11.-

Lending agencies shall be responsible for:

- Periodically reporting quarterly and annually to the Department of Foreign Financial Affairs on plans to recover debts from projects entrusted to their agency for lending.

- Organizing statistics and regular quarterly reports on the recovery of loaned funds and deposits into the Accumulation Fund for each loaned project sent to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Foreign Financial Affairs).

- Guiding and urging units and organizations using government loans to repay loaned funds fully and on time as stipulated in supplementary agreements and loan contracts.

- For commercial banks authorized by the Ministry of Finance to recover debts from project owners and directly repay foreign creditors, they must promptly notify the Ministry of Finance (Department of Foreign Financial Affairs) after each repayment period to record the disbursement from the Accumulation Fund and the collection of the state budget.

Article 12.-

Government guarantee agencies shall be responsible for guiding and urging enterprises and credit organizations guaranteed by the Government to repay foreign loans to pay the full and timely guarantee fees as well as other recovered debts (if any) into the Accumulation Fund.

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 13.-

Relevant Departments, General Departments, and units under and affiliated with the Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for implementing and guiding units and organizations receiving loans or guaranteed by the Government to strictly comply with the provisions of this Regulation. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, the relevant authorities, units, and organizations should promptly reflect to the Ministry of Finance to amend and supplement appropriately to ensure effective use and management of the Accumulation Fund in accordance with its intended purpose.