State Audit to investigate governmental bodies

According to the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV), the agency would focus on investigating the operations of governmental bodies and projects conducted during the 2011-2015 period, as directed by government’s socio-economic development plan.

SAV’s 2016 plan was announced for review before submitting to the National Assembly (NA)’s sitting this October.

State Auditor General Nguyen Huu Van noted, “We will give priority to projects in relation to the economic restructuring process, typically in the banking sector.”

Being involved in the Vietnam banking restructuring scheme, the biggest four state-owned credit institutions (Vietin Bank, Vietcombank, BIDV and Agribank), together with the Ministry of Finance and SBV, will be in the cross hairs of the auditing teams.

Furthermore, the agency has also decided to carry out an investigation into the country’s electricity pricing system.

“We choose audit subjects based on the level of public concern on the issue. The electricity price has been a problem of great concern,” said head of the SAV's General Affairs Department Dao Van Dung.
For the previous months, power consumers had raised concerns over the price of electricity and the way it is calculated.
The price rose by 7.5 per cent to an average of VND1,622 per kWh as of March 16, following a decision approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Since the new price was applied, a lot of questions have been raised related to the reasons behind the hike.
In response to SAV’s plan, Chairman of the NA’s Finance & Budget Committee Phung Quoc Hien asked the SAV to add auditing plans on state-owned enterprises’ effectiveness of budgetary spending.

The plan will round up 17 SOEs, including big names, like Petrolimex, Vietnam Industry Cement Corporation, Hanoi Tourist Corporation or Saigon Trading Group.