Streamlining the apparatus to avoid the risk of high public debt

Information from the Ministry of Finance said that state budget revenue in 2023 is estimated at 1.75 million billion VND, while budget expenditure is 1.73 million billion VND.

Notably, regular expenditures amounted to VND1,050 trillion, accounting for 61% of total budget expenditures.

This means that only more than one-third of the budget is left for socio-economic development, forcing the State to borrow hundreds of thousands of billions of VND each year for investment.

The same is true in localities and Hai Duong. According to the report of the Department of Finance, the total local budget expenditure in 2024 of Hai Duong is estimated at 26,391.652 billion VND. Of which, regular expenditure is estimated at 12,003.853 billion VND.

It is worth mentioning that this regular expenditure is mainly on salaries and human resources in the apparatus... In 2024, the increase in expenditure will mainly be due to additional funding to implement the reform of basic salary and bonus regime according to Decree No. 73/2024/ND-CP and Decree No. 75/2024/ND-CP of the Government.

This is a paradox that shows the urgency of streamlining the apparatus. In the past, in our apparatus, there existed a large number of cadres who worked half-heartedly, not at full capacity, "cheated" on working hours, came late, left early, and during working hours, took advantage of selling goods online, surfing the web, and playing games.

The situation of office tea tables is still common, during working hours some people gather to eat snacks, drink tea and chat, not only reducing personal working time but also causing noise affecting others. At work, many people lack creativity, are afraid of innovation, this year's report is taken out of last year's report and replaced with new data.

The working attitude of a number of cadres, civil servants and public employees is also not good. When interacting with people and businesses, they still show signs of harassment and indifference...

Such people should be cut. Some people also worry that cutting staff will increase the workload of those who remain, creating more pressure.

However, with the strong digital transformation in many fields, especially online public services today, that worry is no longer much. Recently, I went to do procedures to transfer land use rights. All steps from dialing the number at the land registration office, paying tax obligations, and monitoring the file processing process were all done online, the time I had direct contact with the staff at the "one-stop" department was very short. This example shows that cutting staff in many departments is completely appropriate.

General Secretary To Lam emphasized: This is a revolution in thinking and apparatus organization, aiming to orient the building of a more effective economic institution. Without radical reform, the huge costs of the state apparatus will eventually weigh heavily on the shoulders of workers. The budget deficit can only be compensated by increasing taxes or borrowing more, which further aggravates the burden on businesses and people.

Streamlining the apparatus will reduce waste, reduce the burden on the budget, and eliminate the risk of high public debt, so it cannot be delayed.