Thông tư 218/2013/TT-BTC

CIRCULAR

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FUNDED BY ODA AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS GRANTED BY FOREIGN DONORS

Pursuant to the Law on State budget No. 01/2002/QH11 dated December 16, 2002;

Pursuant to the Law on Public debt management No. 29/2009/QH12 dated June 17, 2009;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 60/2003/ND-CP dated June 06, 2003 providing guidelines for implementation of the Law on State budget;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP dated June 14, 2007 on on-lending foreign loans of the government;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 79/2010/ND-CP dated July 14, 2013 on public debt management;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP dated April 23, 2013 on management and use ODA and concessional loans granted by donors;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP dated December 23, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the request of the Director of Department of Debt Management and External Finance;

The Minister of Finance promulgates a Circular on financial management of programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans granted by foreign donors.

Chapter 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

1. This Circular provides guidance on financial management of the programs and projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) and concessional loans granted by foreign donors prescribed in the Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

2. The Ministry of Finance and relevant Ministries shall provide separate instructions on the special programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans.

3. This Circular does not regulate the ODA grants that is separately disbursed on the projects/subprojects that are part of a program/project funded by ODA or concessional loans, which are specified in the Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance on financial management of foreign grant aid classified as government budget revenue and the amendments to this Circular.

4. This Circular does not apply to the foreign loans guaranteed by the government, which are specified in the Government's Decree No. 15/2011/ND-CP on government guarantee management and its guiding documents.

5. In case an International Agreement on ODA and concessional loans is at odds with this Circular, such International Agreement shall apply.

6. The terms in this Circular are defied in Article 3 and Article 4 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular is applied to the organizations and individuals assigned to or involved in the management and use of ODA and concessional loans granted by foreign donors.

Chapter 2.

DOMESTIC FINANCIAL MECHANISM

Article 3. Domestic financial mechanism applied to programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans

1. Rules for establishing a financial mechanism (allocation, on-lending)

a) ODA and foreign concessional loans shall be allocated to programs and projects for investment in infrastructure, social welfare, and other fields where the investment cannot be recovered and are not funded by government budget according to the Law on State budget.

b) Part or the whole ODA or foreign concessional loan shall be on-lent to:

- The programs and projects where part or all the ODA or concessional loan can be recovered, including projects of investment in infrastructure, as long as they are conformable with the plan for socio-economic development of Vietnam, which is approved by competent authorities;

- The programs and projects that are not funded by government budget;

- The programs and projects under the management of the People’s Committees of provinces that are funded by on-lent ODA and government concessional loans.

c) The Ministry of Finance shall take charge and cooperate with the Vietnam Public Procurement Review Journal, regulatory bodies, and project owners in considering and requesting the Prime Minister to consider a separate financial mechanism for each of the programs and projects to which a special disbursement and recovery mechanism is applied, thus require special financial mechanisms (disbursement according to the project progress, PPP projects, projects funded by multiple sources).

d) In case a draft of an international agreement on ODA and concessional loans with a donor prescribes the financial mechanism for such program/project differently, the Ministry of Finance shall cooperate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the governing body in conducting the negotiation, then request the Prime Minister to make a decision.

2. The natures of capital use of a project are classified as follows:

a) Infrastructure project: a project of investment in construction, expansion, or upgrade of building works to maintain, develop, or improve their quality;

b) Administration project: a project of investment in administrative tasks that are not part of the project mentioned in Point a of this Clause;

c) On-lending project: a project of investment funded by on-lent foreign loans of the government.

b) Mixed project: a project that combines at least two of the three aforementioned projects (including on-lending according to credit limits).

Project owners of mixed projects must determine the infrastructure part and administration part of their projects. In special cases where the expenditures of a project are various but the project owner wishes to consider them as infrastructure expenditure or administration expenditure, the project owner must provide explanation for governing body while preparing the project.

3. Procedures establishing domestic financial mechanism

a) The governing body and the project owner shall cooperate with the donor in formulating an outline of the program/project using the form in Article 16 of the Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

- The outline must specify the total amount of ODA, the concessional loan, and the counterpart capital, be enclosed with a proposal of domestic financial mechanism for ODA and concessional loans, specifying the possibilities and repayment plan (for on-lent programs and projects) in accordance with the rules in Clause 1 of this Article.

- The Ministry of Finance shall provide for the principles when making proposals of domestic financial mechanism in the outlines of programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall compile and submit a funding list to the Prime Minister for approval (if the list is within the competence of the Prime Minister).

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall provide for the principles for domestic financial mechanism in the outlines of programs and projects funded by ODA grants. The governing body shall consider approving the funding list if the list is within its competence.

b) During the process of formulating and considering the funding list mentioned above, if information and grounds for proposing a financial mechanism for the project are not ample, the governing body and project owner shall keep studying and proposing domestic financial mechanism for the project, send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant bodies for opinions before submitting the profile and feasibility study of the project of investment to a competent body for approval.

c) In case new issues arise during the negotiation of a loan/aid agreement, which are not mentioned in the financial mechanism established in the profile or feasibility study of the project, or other objective elements require amendments to the  financial mechanism in the profile or feasibility study that has been approved, the governing body and project owner must request the Ministry of Finance to consider them; the Ministry of Finance shall then request the Prime Minister to the official domestic financial mechanism applied to the program/project funded by ODA and concessional loans before the loan/aid agreement is concluded.

4. Determination of specific terms and conditions for on-lending applied to programs and projects funded by ODA and foreign concessional loans:

a) According to the assessment of the financial plan of the on-lending project and assessment of financial capacity of the project owner carried out by the on-lending intermediary, the Ministry of Finance shall apply the terms and conditions for on-lending in the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP dated July 14, 2010 and the regulations in this Circular.

The deadline for assessing and notifying the conditions for on-lending is specified in Article 19 of the Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP.

b) In special cases, including the cases in which the foreign lender requires the application of terms and conditions for on-lending other than those in the Decree No. 78/2010/ND-GOVERNMENT the Ministry of Finance shall consider the case, collect opinions from relevant bodies, send a report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on a case-by-case basis.

5. The Ministry of Finance or the on-lending intermediary authorized by the Ministry of Finance to conclude on-lending agreements/subsidiary loan agreements with the subsidiary borrowers shall manage the use and recovery of on-lent capital in accordance with Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 4. Domestic financial mechanism for local programs and projects

1. Allocation of ODA and foreign concessional loan to administrative divisions:

ODA and foreign concessional loans shall be allocated to local budgets in the form of targeted aid to execute project of investment in infrastructure, social welfare, and other fields where investment cannot be recovered and are funded by government budget according to the Law on State budget.

2. Part or the whole ODA of the government shall be on-lent to:

a) Projects of investment in socio-economic development that are funded by local budgets, on condition that the investment procedures are completed and the local budget can repay the debts.

b) The subprojects that belong to the master projects managed and owned by Ministries, capable of recovering investment, and executed by owners of subprojects of to the People’s Committees of provinces.

3. Depending on the purpose of each loan, the Ministry of Finance shall request the Prime Minister to decide the mechanism for on-lending of each project.

4. The People’s Committees of provinces are entitled to on-lending of ODA and foreign concessional loans when the following conditions are satisfied:

a) The on-lending of foreign loans of the government is permitted by competent authorities;

b) There is a project of investment in socio-economic development funded by local budgets that have undergone the investment procedures in accordance with investment laws and relevant laws;

c) The local budget is assessed as sufficient for debt repayment.

5. The Ministry of Finance shall assess the ability to repay debts of local budgets in accordance with the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP and relevant laws, request the Prime Minister to decide the domestic financial mechanism applied to each ODA and concessional loan granted to the administrative division.

Article 5. Conditions for on-lending applied to financial institutions and credit institutions that on-lend loans according to credit limit programs

1. Conditions for on-lending applied to financial institutions and credit institutions:

a) Having a program/project for which the use of loan is approved by a competent authority and the foreign lender;

b) Being capable of repaying the debt according to an assessed financial plan.

2. Conditions for on-lending from the Ministry of Finance to financial and credit institutions that participate in credit limit programs:

a) The interest rate is conformable with Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP.

b) The time limit and grace period does not exceed the original time limit and grace period of the foreign loan.

c) In special cases, including the cases in which the foreign lender requires the application of terms and conditions for on-lending other than those in the Decree No. 78/2010/ND-GOVERNMENT the Ministry of Finance shall consider the case, collect opinions from relevant bodies, send a report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on a case-by-case basis.

3. Assessment and selection of financial institutions and credit institutions for credit limit programs:

a) When on-lending ODA loans: the Ministry of Finance shall assess the plans for using loans and repaying debts of the financial institutions and credit institutions that participate in the program before signing the on-lending agreement/ subsidiary loan agreement.

b) When on-lending concessional loans: the State bank of Vietnam shall assess the financial capacity, the plans for using loans and repaying debts of the financial institutions and credit institutions that participate in the credit limit program, then send the assessment result to the Ministry of Finance  before signing the on-lending agreement/subsidiary loan agreement.

c) The financial institution or credit institution that grant the loan to the end borrowers must assess the projects, select end borrowers that are suitable for the credit programs agreed by the donors, and take all risks posed by on-lending.

Article 6. Domestic financial mechanism applied to the private sector in terms of access to ODA loans and foreign concessional loans

1. Entities in the private sector may access ODA loans and foreign concessional loans by on-lending, in particular:

a) Entities in the private sector shall receive on-lent ODA loans and concessional loans when executing projects of investment that are given priority according to the domestic financial mechanism specified in Article 3 of this Circular.

b) Entities in the private sector shall receive on-lent ODA loans and concessional loans from domestic financial institutions and credit institutions via credit limit programs, and may apply domestic financial mechanism specified in Article 5 of this Circular.

c) Entities in the private sector shall receive on-lent concessional loans of the government under the foreign loan conditions when executing PPP projects.

d) Entities in the private sector may participate in the programs and projects where the private sector is supported by the governing bodies: the governing bodies must assess the projects participated by the private sector according to the overall financial mechanism approved by competent authorities.

If no financial mechanism for the approved programs and projects is available, the governing body shall send a proposal of domestic financial mechanism for each program/project to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister.

2. Conditions for access to ODA loans and concessional loans; assessment by project owners:

a) Conditions for accessing ODA loans and concessional loans applied to project owners that are companies in the private sector:

- At least 20% of total investment in the projects, which is approved by a competent authority, must be equity capital (excluding the part of equity capital in any other project of investments). The project owner must send a list of projects under investment to the governing body, specifying the investment, investment progress, the plan for using equity capital and raised capital to execute such projects. It is the basis for considering the access to ODA, concessional loans. The project owner is responsible for the accuracy of the report.

- The financial status is sound without incurring any loss over the previous three years preceding the year in which the application for ODA and concessional loans is filed; no loss is accrued, the debt ratio, repayment ratio is safe; not overdue debts are owed to financial institutions and credit institutions; no overdue debts related to the loans guaranteed by the government, on-lent foreign loans of the government, and the loans granted by government budget. If the company has not operated for 03 consecutive years, it is required to have a commitment by the owner or parent company to repay debts on behalf of the company if the company fails to repay the debt to the government. If no parent company or owner is available, the company must have the debt guaranteed by a commercial bank accepted by the Ministry of Finance.

- The subsidiary borrower must take measures for secure the loan in accordance with law to reduce credit risk and other possible risks. Collateral includes the assets derived from the loan granted by the government and other assets defined by law.

b) Assessment and selection of project owners being companies in the private sector:

- For credit limit programs: projects owners shall be assessed and selected by financial institutions and credit institutions in accordance with Point c Clause 3 Article 5.

- For the projects of investment in the fields where the use ODA and concessional loans of the government are encouraged according to Point c Clause 1 of this Article. After the investment procedures are completed and the decision on investment is approved by a competent authority, the Ministry of Finance may authorize an on-lending intermediary or an independent advisory organization to assess the financial capacity and the repayment plan of the project owner. The assessing organization is responsible for the assessment result. The project owner must pay the assessment cost, which may be included in the total cost of the project (in case the ODA or concessional loan is directly received) or included in the operating cost of the project owner’s company.

The conditions for receiving ODA and concessional loans applied to the project owners being business households and individuals in the private sector that participate in credit limit programs shall be considered and decided by the financial/credit institution on a case-by-case basis.

Chapter 3.

ANNUAL CAPITAL PLAN

Article 7. Formulation of annual capital plan

1. Annual capital plans of the programs and projects funded by ODA/concessional loans are the plans for disbursement of ODA/concessional loans, and the plans for counterpart capital prescribed in Article 61 and Article 62 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP The forms for the ODA/concessional loans disbursement plan and the counterpart capital plan are provided in the Circulars of the Ministry of Planning and Investment on guidelines for the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

2. According to the overall plan approved by the governing body according to Article 37 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP the project owner shall make annual plans for execution of the program/project as a basis for annual disbursement of capital by the governing body according to Article 38 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP including:

a) The plans for annual disbursement of ODA and concessional loan sorted by donors and purpose (infrastructure development, administration, on-lending, budget support).

b) The plans for annual disbursement of counterpart capital sorted by governing body and capital source (central budget, local budget, project owner’s capital, and other sources).

The contents of the plan for counterpart capital for execution of programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans are specified in Article 43 of the Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP Governing bodies must allocate counterpart capital in the annual budget estimate to realize the commitments in the international agreements on ODA and concessional loans, which suit the annual disbursement of the programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans.

3. Governing bodies must collect and approve annual plans for allocating capital to programs and projects in accordance with to Article 37 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP send them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and relevant bodies (expenditure control body, on-lending intermediary, serving banks).

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall make plans for disbursing ODA and concessional loans on the projects funded by government budget and annual counterpart capital plans in accordance with Article 61 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP then send them to the Ministry of Finance for aggregation with the annual government budget plan.

5. Project owners shall make and approve annual capital plans for the projects funded by on-lent ODA, concessional loans of the government, and counterpart capital of the project owners themselves.

Article 8. Procedures for making annual capital plan

1. For the projects funded by government budget:

a) Every year when the state budget estimate is submitted, the project owners shall make an investment capital plan or administration capital plan according to the progress of the project and send it to the governing body. The governing body shall aggregate the investment plans, send them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment for submission to the Prime Minister and the National Assembly.

b) Capital plans must be submitted and announced in accordance with current regulations on government budget. The governing body’s decisions on approving annual allocation plans must be sent to a finance authority at the same level and an expenditure control body.

c) By the deadline for making the annual budget estimate before the concluded treaty on the project takes effect or before the procedures for domestic investment is completed, the governing body must send a report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance on the demand for counterpart capital and advanced capital of the project if counterpart capital is provided by central budget; if counterpart capital is provided by local budget, the project owner must send a report to the local governing body on the demand for counterpart capital and advanced capital of the project.

d) For the projects set up after the annual budget estimate is made, the governing body shall make additional financial plans or plans for advanced capital from the next year’s budget estimate, then send them to a finance authority and investment authority for consideration in accordance with the Law on State budget and its guiding documents.

2. On-lending projects

Every year while the government budget estimate is being made, the project owner shall make an annual capital plan for the project, specifying the sources of ODA, concessional loans, and counterpart capital, then send it to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The project owner is responsible for balancing the counterpart capital according to the progress of the project.

3. For the projects funded by both allocated and on-lent capital:

Depending on the financial mechanism applied to each project component (allocation or on-lending), the project owners shall make and submit a capital allocation plan for each component in accordance with Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article.

Chapter 4.

SERVING BANK

Article 9. Selection of serving banks

1. “Serving bank" means a commercial bank selected among a list of commercial banks qualified for international transactions and provision of banking services for projects funded by ODA and concessional loans. The list of qualified commercial banks shall be compiled and announced by the State bank of Vietnam.

2. The serving banks selected must:

a) Satisfy all requirements of the State bank in terms of financial safety ratios applied to credit institutions;

b) The operating scope is suitable for the locations of the programs/projects funded by ODA and concessional loans;

c) Adhere to the regulations of the government, the Ministry of Finance, and the donors on management of ODA and concessional loans.

Article 10. Accounts at serving banks

1. The project owners or the Ministry of Finance may open transaction accounts (advance accounts, special accounts) at serving banks in accordance with the payment terms in the loan/aid agreement, except for the budget support projects that require that accounts be opened at local State Treasuries to facilitate the expenditure control, capital disbursement, and government budget accounting.

If a project is funded by multiple sources, separate accounts must be opened to monitor each of them.

If a project is under the management of multiple levels of authorities and a secondary advance account is required, the project owner shall open the secondary advance account at a branch of the serving bank.

2. The interest generated by advance accounts/special accounts shall be accounted for and monitored separately during the execution of the project, and may only be used for paying banking service fees charged by the serving bank.

By February 15 every year, the project owner must report the use of the interest generated by such accounts in the previous year.

3. Settlement of interest generated by advance accounts/special accounts:

a) For the projects funded by government budget: after the project is completed, if the interest is not used up, the project owner must transfer it to government budget.

b) For on-lending projects, the interest generated by advance accounts/special accounts at the serving bank to which capital is transferred is considered an income of the project owners or the financial/credit institutions that borrow on-lent government loans.

c) The interest generated by deposit accounts at the serving bank of the financial institutions and credit institutions that borrow on-lent government loans and take credit risk is considered income of such financial institutions and credit institutions, and shall be handled in accordance with the Law on credit institutions and relevant laws.

Chapter 5.

PROCEDURES FOR CAPITAL DISBURSEMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Article 11. Capital disbursement modalities

The modalities of disbursement of ODA and concessional loans are specified in the aid agreements, including:

1. Budget support:

a) Capital for the programs directly funded by government budget or the regional, global budget support programs/projects directly executed by the government shall be disbursed and transferred in a lump sum to government budget.

b) Capital for the programs attached to a policy framework, credit limit programs, master projects, and the projects sponsored according to result of World Bank shall be disbursed and transferred by instalments to government budget.

2. For project-type aid, capital shall be transferred by one of the following modalities:

a) Direct payment/wiring:

- Direct payment is the method by which the donor agrees to give payment directly to the contractors/suppliers of the project as requested by the borrower.

- Wiring is the method of direct payment and/or capital reimbursement in VND currency as mentioned in Point c below.

b) Payment as committed is the method by which the donor makes a commitment to return the amount paid to the contractors/suppliers by Letter of Credit (L/C) via the banking system (lending bank, serving bank) to the commercial bank as requested by the borrower.

c) Capital reimbursement is the method by which the donor transfers money to an account provided by the borrower to reimburse the borrower for the legitimate expenditures on the project incurred by the borrower/project owner. Legitimate expenditures may be incurred before of after the loan agreement is signed and must be conformable with such loan agreement.

d) Advance accounts/special accounts:

Advance account is the account opened at the serving bank of the borrower to which advance payment is transferred by the donor as requested by the borrower for the borrower to proactively pay for legitimate regular costs of the project, reduce the number of transfer, and still enable the donor to control the payment for activities of the project from such account.

Article 12. Procedures for receiving capital from ODA and concessional loans that are budget support

1. If the program is attached to a policy framework, the project owner and governing body must cooperate with the Ministry of Finance/the State bank and relevant bodies in realizing their commitments to the donor to meet the prerequisites for capital disbursement in the loan agreement.

2. For the budget support programs/projects where capital is disbursed according to the outcomes, project owners and governing bodies must take charge and cooperate with relevant bodies in determining the proportions of capital they receive in accordance with the agreement with the donor. The project owner may receive advance capital in accordance with the donor's regulations to perform their tasks as agreed in order to realize the commitments related to the disbursement ratio.

3. Project owners and governing bodies must cooperate with relevant bodies in compiling, providing documents proving the realization of the framework agreements on disbursement criteria in the project outline or aid agreement; send such documents to the donor the Ministry of Finance for capital disbursement.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall send the applications for capital disbursement to the donors, cooperate with the State bank, serving banks, and project owners in transferring capital to government budget as agreed with the donors.

5. Budget support for execution of national programs and sector budget support programs:

a) Governing body of the programs and projects must reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on the time for capital disbursement, the amount of disbursement, and the accounts to which ODA and concessional loans are transferred; cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in planning the distribution and allocation of subprojects.

b) ODA and concessional loans that have been transferred to government budget must be used for the national programs and sector budget support programs in accordance with the procedures for expenditure control, disbursement of capital from government budget.

6. The application for capital disbursement must comply with the agreements with the donor.

Article 13. Procedures for disbursement of ODA and concessional loans in the form of aid for projects

1. After the donor announces the prerequisites for capital disbursement according to the loan/aid agreement, the project owner or project management board shall make and send an application for capital disbursement to the Ministry of Finance.

2. The application for capital disbursement must be made in accordance with the form provided by the donor, the regulations in Article 14 and Article 15 of this Circular, including the following types:

a) Single application.

b) On-demand application.

3. Within 5 working days from receipt of the satisfactory application, the Ministry of Finance shall sign the application and send it to the donor.

4. When the donor requires additional documents or only accept part of the application, the Ministry of Finance shall notify the project owner of the legitimate requirements of the donor.

Article 14. Single application

1. The project owner shall send the single application to the Ministry of Finance and the expenditure control body as the basis for monitoring the disbursement of ODA and concessional loans on each program/project. The application consists of:

a) An aid agreement between Vietnamese government and the donor (Vietnamese translation bearing the signature and seal of the project owner, which is sent to the expenditure control body);

b) The project of investment (feasibility study report) and/or the project outline approved by a competent authority, enclosed with a copy of the decision on investment in project made by a competent authority and a decision on estimate approval (if any);

c) The contract between the project owner and the contractor, the documents related to the payment requirements, except for the drawings, designs, and technical documents (copies); if the contract is concluded in a foreign language, a Vietnamese translation of the payment terms, which bear the signature and seal of the project owner, must be enclosed with the contract;

d) The agreements, letters, and “no objection" statements of the donor; agreements with the contractors on project execution (list of legitimate expenditures, contracts; contract execution guarantee); approve budget for each item, contract, and project approved by competent authorities (applied to limited bidding and the works done without contracts), and relevant documents about the project;

dd) The annual capital plan approved by a competent authority;

e) An on-lending agreement between the project owner and the on-lending intermediary (if any).

2. The project owner shall only send the Ministry of Finance the copies of the aforementioned documents once when making the first application for capital disbursement. The project owner is responsible for the accuracy of the copies submitted to the Ministry of Finance. The original copy of the annual financial plan for the project must be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the expenditure control body.

Article 15. On-demand application

Apart from the single application mentioned in Article 14, the project owner shall send an application for capital disbursement every time capital is drawn depending on the modalities of capital disbursement, in particular:

1. Direct payment/wiring (via JICA)

a) A written request for capital disbursement enclosed with the application form, the statements and necessary documents required by the donor;

b) Invoices/claims for payment of the contractor/supplier;

c) A claim for payment (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body;

d) If inspection is carried out after disbursement, the project owner must notice the settlement of capital disbursement by each stage of payment, in particular:

- While making a midterm instalment, if the value on the certification of payment issued by the expenditure control body is different from the actual expenditure in the previous period, the project owner must offset this difference against the payment value in the next period.

- Last instalment: the project owner shall send a claim for payment certified by the expenditure control body of the previous instalment and the last instalment to ensure that the payment for the whole project contract is controlled.

2. Procedures for preparing letter of commitment/special commitment

a) The project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance a dossier that consists the following documents:

- A written request for issuance of a letter of commitment by the donor;

- A documents about the issuance of the issuance of a letter of commitment using the forms provided by the donor and copies of opened L/C.

b) Procedures for payment with L/C without a letter of commitment: if the commercial contract allows payment by L/C without a letter of commitment, the project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance a written request for opening the L/C, which is enclosed with a copy of the commercial contract and relevant documents. After examining the documents, the Ministry of Finance shall offer opinions on the opening of the L/C to the project management board and the serving bank, and concurrently send a Notice of authorization of irrevocable payment to a bank authorized by the donor to make payment according to the L/C.

If capital disbursed by JICA is eligible for inspection after disbursement, after each time the payment to the investor/counselor is approved, the project owner must send the payment receipts to the expenditure control body for inspection. When the expenditure inspection result is given, the project owner shall send a claim for payment (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body to compare the information about capital disbursement with JICA.

3. Procedures for capital reimbursement

a) The project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance a dossier of application for capital disbursement, which consists the following documents:

- A written request for capital disbursement, an application form for capital disbursement, and a statement according to the set form;

The application form must specify the name and number of the account of each unit that advanced capital. The names and accounts of the places that advance the capital provided by government budget (capital for preparation or the project, capital for project execution) must be specified.

- The receipt proving that the payment has been given to the contractor/beneficiary and/or a manifest that certifies that the contractor/beneficiary has received the reimbursed capital ;

- c) A claim for capital reimbursement (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body.

In special cases at the request of the donor, the Ministry of Finance may request additional documents.

b) If capital is drawn from JICA: The project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance a dossier of application for capital disbursement, which consists the following documents:

- The contract between the investor and contractor, the written approval of the contract between Vietnam and JICA, which is enclosed with a Vietnamese translation that bear the project owner’s signature and seal;

- A written request for capital disbursement and necessary documents required by the donor;

- A claim for payment (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body;

4. Advance accounts/special accounts:

a) First disbursement of capital to advance account:

The first disbursement of capital to the advance account depends on the upper limit of the advance account according to the loan/aid agreement. The upper limit of the advance account may be set for two levels (if the project is executed by both central and local bodies), but the disbursed capital must be wired to the level-1 advance account.

After capital can be disbursed according to the loan/aid agreement, the project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance the following documents: (i) A written request for capital disbursement, (ii) an application form for capital disbursement and the statements using the form provided by the donor, and (iii) the expenditure plan for the next three months in accordance with the donor’s regulations. The Ministry of Finance shall consider signing the application and send it to the donor.

b) Expenditure from advance account: follow regulations in Article 16 of this Circular.

For the loan granted by JICA, the project owner shall send the Ministry of Finance the following documents:

- A written request for capital reimbursement of the project owner;

- A claim for payment of the contractor/supplier/beneficiary;

- A claim for payment (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body whenever a payment is made (inspection before disbursement); When advance payment is made, it is necessary to provide documents about bank’s guarantee of the advance payment.

c) Additional payment to advance account:

In order to receive additional capital disbursement to the level-1 advance account, the project owner shall send the following documents to the Ministry of Finance:

- A written request for additional capital disbursement to the advance account;

- A detailed plan for spending from the advance account for the next three months;

- An application for capital disbursement and the statements using the donor’s form;

- The statements are made by the project owner, must specify the expenditures from the advance account including the dates, payments, amounts in foreign currencies, amounts in Vietnamese currency, exchange rates, payment contents, and beneficiaries;

- c) A claim for capital reimbursement (original copy) certified by the expenditure control body.

- History statement of the advance account provided by the serving bank (together with that of the secondary advance account, if any). If the loan is granted by JICA, it is required to provide documents proving that the serving bank has transferred the payment to the beneficiary.

The Ministry of Finance shall consider signing/approving the application for capital disbursement and sending it to the donor for additional transfer of money to the advance account.

Article 16. Management of disbursement and use of ODA, concessional loans

1. Purposes of expenditure control

In order to ensure the proper and efficient use of ODA and concessional loans of the government, the disbursement and use of ODA and concessional loans of the government must be inspected and supervised as if they are government budget by controlling expenditures and payments (hereinafter referred to as expenditure control) from ODA and concessional loans of projects. Expenditure control is meant to ensure that the expenditures on the projects are conformable with the concluded Agreements/project outlines/ODA and concessional loans contracts and domestic regulations on financial management.

2. Rules for expenditure control

a) Every expenditure of a project must be controlled.

b) The expenditures stated in the claims for payment serving disbursement of ODA and concessional loans must be inspected according to the approved plan for annual disbursement of foreign capital. If the amount of capital disbursed in the year exceeds the approved plan for annual disbursement of foreign capital (even if exchange difference is the cause), the project owner must make and submit a plan for increase of capital by December 30, provided the total disbursed capital and accrued payment do not exceed the limit of foreign capital of the whole project. The expenditure control body must monitor and certify the counterpart capital within the given counterpart capital plan.

c) Pursuant to the payment orders of the project owner, the payment terms in the contract (number of instalments, payment stages, payment time, and payment conditions), or the capital estimate if payment is not made according to the contract, and value of each payment, the expenditure control body shall inspect the expenditures and pay the project owner. The project owner is responsible for the accuracy and legitimacy of the works done, the limits, unit prices, and construction quality; the expenditure control body is not responsible for these issues.

d) The expenditure control body shall inspect the expenditures or refuse to certify the expenditure inspection within 05 working days from the receipt of sufficient and valid documents.

3. Expenditure control body:

a) State Treasuries shall inspect the payment receipts of the projects/project components funded by government budget.

b) The Vietnam Development Bank or another on-lending intermediary authorized by the Ministry of Finance shall inspect the payment receipts of the projects/project components funded by on-lent loans.

c) Credit limit programs/credit components:

- The financial institutions and credit institutions appointed by the Ministry of Finance as on-lending intermediary without taking any credit risk shall inspect the expenditures when the subsidiary borrower requests capital disbursement and payment.

- The financial institutions and credit institutions that take on-lent loans according to credit limit programs and take credit risk shall inspect the expenditures when on-lending loans to end borrowers.

d) The Ministry of Finance shall appoint expenditure control bodies suitable for the programs and projects that are not mentioned in Point a, b, and c above, on condition that an expenditure is not inspected by more than one expenditure control body.

4. Modalities of expenditure control

a) “Inspection before disbursement” means the inspection and certification of the legitimacy of the expenditures by the expenditure control body before capital is disbursed for the project owner to pay the contractors/beneficiaries.

b) “Inspection after disbursement” means the inspection and certification of the legitimacy of the expenditures after capital is disbursed for the project owner to pay the contractors/beneficiaries.

 Inspection after disbursement is applied to every payment order, except for the following cases in which inspection before disbursement is required:

- The contractors/suppliers are paid directly for the projects/subprojects funded by government budget, except for the projects funded by loans from JICA.

- The contractors/suppliers are paid directly when making the lump sum payment or the last instalment.

- Payment is made from the level-2 account if the project has two levels of advance accounts.

5. Documentation and procedures for expenditure control:

a) For the construction projects/subprojects funded by government budget:

- Documentation and procedures for controlling expenditures on the construction projects funded by government budget shall comply with the Circular No. 86/2011/TT-BTC dated June 06, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance on management, reimbursement of investment capital and administration capital with investment nature provided by government budget, its amendments and replacements (if any). The deadline for approving the project, which is October 31 before the planning year, does not apply.

- Documents serving certification of advance capital: apart from the initial documents, the project owner shall send the following documents to the expenditure control body:

+ A guarantee for advance payment specifying the advance payment value and the deadline for reimbursement for the advance payment according to the contract;

+ A written request for capital reimbursement; a written request for capital disbursement (if counterpart capital is advanced).

- On-demand application: The warranty payment has been certified by the expenditure control body whenever a payment is made, thus the transfer of warranty payment is exempt from recertification. The investor is responsible for the warranty payments to the contractors.

b) For the administrative projects or activities funded by government budget: follow the expenditure control principles in the Circular No. 161/2012/TT-BTC dated October 02, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance on the control and payment of expenditures from government budget via State Treasury, amendments to this Circular, according to the application for disbursement of ODA and concessional loans prescribed in this Circular. If otherwise prescribed by the loan/aid agreement or the donor’s regulations, such agreement or regulations shall prevail.

c) Documentation and procedures for controlling expenditures on on-lending projects:

- Credit limit:

Documentation and procedure for controlling expenditures on the projects/project components funded by on-lent loans according to credit limit must comply with regulations of credit institutions using on-lent ODA, regulations of the aid agreement and the project. The credit institutions that borrow on-lent ODA are responsible for the legitimacy of the credit loans and expenditures in the statements sent to the Ministry of Finance when making and submitting the application for disbursement of foreign capital.

- The documentation and procedures for controlling expenditures on other projects/subprojects are similar to those applied to the construction projects/subprojects funded by government budget.

Chapter 6.

GOVERNMENT BUDGET ACCOUNTING

Article 17. Opening accounts at State Treasuries

1. Accounts for ODA and concessional loans:

Pursuant to the regulations on opening accounts of programs and projects in Clause 1 Article 10 of this Circular, the requirements for execution of the programs and projects, and written agreements with the donors, project owners shall open accounts at State Treasuries to receive advanced ODA and concessional loans, and pay for the project after expenditure control is carried out by State Treasuries.

2. Counterpart capital account: project owners shall open accounts at State Treasuries in order for State Treasury to control the payment for expenditures on the projects and monitor the allocation of counterpart capital on the projects.

Article 18. Government budget accounting principles

1. ODA and foreign concessional loans must be accounted for in government budget adequately and promptly. Finance authorities are in charge of government budget accounting.

2. New revenues and expenditures of government budget must be recorded according to the ODA and concessional loans that have been disbursed and transferred to users. The currency must be VND (if capital is disbursed in VND) or converted into VND at an exchange rate announced by the Ministry of Finance every month (if foreign currencies are transferred to the projects). On-lent loans shall be accounted for in accordance with Article 4 of the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP.

3. The recorded government budget revenues and expenditures are the basis for the organizations and units that use or borrow on-lent ODA and foreign concessional loans to do government budget accounting.

Article 19. Procedures for government budget accounting

After receiving the donor’s notice of capital disbursement or a payment receipt from an advance account/special account at a serving bank, the Ministry of Finance shall send a revenue and expenditure record to the State Treasury for government budget accounting. Depending on the purposes and users/beneficiaries, government budget revenues and expenditures shall be recorded as follows:

1. For the cash loans in the form of general budget support: according to the credit notes of the serving bank, State Treasuries shall record the ODA and concessional loans as government budget revenues (the amount in foreign currencies transferred to a Foreign currency fund shall be recorded as State budget revenues in foreign currencies).

2. For the cash loans in the form of sector budget support: according to the concluded aid agreement and the budget allocated to the users/beneficiaries according to estimates, State Treasuries shall make payments, control expenditures, and record the ODA and concessional loans as government budget expenditures as if they are capital provided by government budget.

3. For the foreign loans allocated to construction projects and administration projects of ministries and central agencies: according to the donors’ notices of disbursement and receipts of payments from advance accounts/special accounts at services banks, the Ministry of Finance shall record ODA and concessional loans as government budget revenues, record capital for construction and administration allocated to Ministries and central agencies as government budget expenditures.

4. For the foreign loans allocated to provinces: according to the donors’ notices of disbursement, the Ministry of Finance shall record ODA and concessional loans as government budget revenues, record local budget revenues from central budget via provincial Services of Finance. According to the documents sent by the Ministry of Finance, Services of Finance shall make orders for payment to local capital users; send them to the provincial State Treasuries for allocation of budget in accordance with the Law on State budget.

5. For the foreign loans on-lent by the Ministry of Finance to the People’s Committees of provinces and the private sectors: according to the donors’ notices of disbursement, the Ministry of Finance shall record ODA and concessional loans as government budget revenues, record the loans on-lent by the  on-lending intermediaries authorized by the Ministry of Finance as expenditures.

6. For the foreign loans on-lent by financial institutions and credit institutions that are appointed as on-lending intermediaries by the Ministry of Finance: according to the donors’ notices of disbursement, the Ministry of Finance shall record ODA and concessional loans as government budget revenues, record the on-lent loans as expenditures. The on-lending intermediaries and project owners must follow the procedures for taking loans upon receipt of the donors' notice of disbursement sent by the Ministry of Finance regardless of the time of recording government budget revenues and expenditures.

Article 20. Adjustment to government budget accounting data

1. Accounting data shall be adjusted to resolve the difference between the information about revenues and expenditures and the actual amount of capital disbursed and used in the following cases:

a) The disbursed capital is not used completely or properly and thus must be returned to the donor according to the aid agreement;

b) The project owner is replaced under a decision by a competent authority;

c) There is a change in the domestic financial mechanism under a decision by a competent authority (e.g. converted from on-lending to allocation of part or all ODA and concessional loans)

d) Adjustment to some error during the government budget accounting must be made according to the comparison between information between State Treasuries and project owners.

2. Procedures for adjustment:

a) Pursuant to the request for adjustment made by the governing body and project owner, which is enclosed with supporting documents, the Ministry of Finance (Department of Debt Management and External Finance) shall compare the government budget accounting data, make a Budget Adjustment Note, and send to the State Treasury.

b) According to the Budget Adjustment Note, State Treasury shall record the adjustments to the accounting data and send copies of the Budget Adjustment Note the governing body and project owner for them to make corresponding adjustments to the accounting reports and financial statements.

Chapter 7.

PROVISION OF COUNTERPART CAPITAL AND MECHANISM FOR ADVANCING CAPITAL FROM GOVERNMENT BUDGET

Article 21. Responsibility to provide counterpart capital

1. The central budget shall provide counterpart capital for the projects/subprojects that are funded by the central budget according to the Law on State budget, owned and managed by central authorities. The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance must provide adequate and timely counterpart capital according to each source of government budget (infrastructure construction, administration) for annual capital plans according to their assignments in the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

2. Local budgets shall provide counterpart capital for:

a)  The projects/subprojects that are funded by local budgets according to the Law on State budget, owned and managed by local authorities.

b) The projects funded by on-lent ODA and concessional loans of the government that are borrowed by the People’s Committees of provinces.

3. Financial institutions, credit institutions, and companies in all economic sectors are responsible for providing counterpart capital for:

a) The projects/subprojects they own and manage.

b) The projects/subprojects funded by on-lent ODA and concessional loans of the government that are borrowed by such financial institutions, credit institutions, and companies.

4. Beneficiaries must contribute an amount of counterpart capital (in cash, in kind, or labor) according to the design of each program/project.

Article 22. Mechanism for advancing capital

If a commitment to provide ODA and concessional loans has been made, such loans has been recorded in the State budget estimate, which is decided by the National Assembly but have not been disbursed, capital shall be advanced by government budget (central budget) to execute some parts of the program/project funded by government budget according to Article 44 of the Government's Decree No. 38/2013/ND-CP.

At the request of the governing body, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in considering advancing capital from government budget to execute the program/project. Government budget must be reimbursed for this advanced capital when ODA and concessional loans are disbursed by the donor.

Chapter 8.

ON-LENDING

Article 23. Procedures for on-lending

1. Conclusion of on-lending contract/agreement:

a) The Ministry of Finance shall directly on-lend the loans to financial institutions and credit institutions (if credit risk is taken by such financial institutions and credit institutions) or project owners and companies in all economic sectors (for specific program/project of investment, except for manufacturing households and individuals) by signing on-lending agreements or subsidiary loan agreements between the Ministry of Finance and such organizations.

b) The Ministry of Finance shall directly on-lend the loans to the People’s Committees of provinces by signing on-lending agreements or subsidiary loan agreements between the Ministry of Finance and the People’s Committees of provinces.

Records on the conclusion of the on-lending agreements or subsidiary loan agreements mentioned in Point a and Point b above shall be made for each particular on-lending project using the forms provided by the donors (if any).

c) the Ministry of Finance shall authorize financial institutions and credit institutions as on-lending intermediaries to on-lend loans to programs and projects (if they do not take credit risk) by signing authorization contracts between the Ministry of Finance and the on-lending intermediaries.

The form of the authorization contract is provided in Appendix 2 to the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP.

2. Planning collection of on-lent loans:

a) For the loans directly on-lent by the Ministry of Finance: the Ministry of Finance shall plan the collection of debt and on-lending fee for every quarter and the whole year according to the concluded on-lending agreements or subsidiary loan agreements.

b) For the amounts the Ministry of Finance authorize on-lending intermediaries to collect: on-lending intermediaries shall plan the collection of debt and on-lending fee for every quarter and the whole year according to the concluded on-lending agreements or secondary loan agreements, then send the plans to the Ministry of Finance.

3. Organization of debt collection:

a) Accounts for debt collection: the collected debts (principal, interest, on-lending fee) shall be transferred to the accounts using foreign currencies and Vietnamese currency of the Debt Repayment Fund opened at State Treasuries.

b) In every June and December, organizations, companies, and the People’s Committees of the provinces that borrow the foreign loans on-lent by the government must report information about repayment of debts of on-lending projects to the Ministry of Finance (Debt Repayment Fund).

c) On-lending intermediaries must send reports on the implementation of the plan for collection of on-lent loans and on-lending fees in every quarter and in the whole year, the repayment of on-lent loans of each program/project to Debt Repayment Fund to the Ministry of Finance. The reports must be submitted within the first 15 days of the next quarter (applied to quarterly reports) and by January 31 of the next year (applied to annual reports). Annual reports on the collection of principal, interest, and fee of on-lent loans shall be made by on-lending intermediaries according to each on-lending project, and are the basis for the Ministry of Finance (Debt Repayment Fund) to compare and certify the repayment of on-lent loans with on-lending intermediaries.

Article 24. Handling on-lending risk

Procedures and entitlements to handle on-lending risk are specified in Article 23 of the Government's Decree No. 78/2010/ND-CP.

Governing bodies shall cooperate with the Ministry of Finance and on-lending intermediaries in assessing, ranking, and classifying risky debts according to the Regulation on Management and Handling of risk to public debts enclosed with the Decision No. 56/2012/QD-TTg dated December 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister.

Chapter 9.

ACCOUNTING, AUDIT, REPORTING, AND INSPECTION

Article 25. Accounting of projects funded by ODA and concessional loans

1. Bookkeeping principles:

The units that use ODA and concessional loans must:

a) Comply with current regulations of the Law on Accounting, Vietnam’s Accounting Standards, and current accounting practice of Vietnam;

b) Comply with the donors’ regulations on accounting in the loan/aid agreements or in the project outlines (if any);

2. Accounting apparatus

The accounting apparatus varies according to the scale of the project and the project management method.

a) If a project management board is not established or a project management board is established without a separate accounting apparatus: the project owner may use the general accounting apparatus in the same accounting book system of the unit. The accounts, capital sources, receipts and expenditures of the project must be separated.

b) If the scale of the project is large and a project management board is established (with an independent legal status and a seal): the project management board shall decide the establishment of an independent Accounting department, appoint (or hire) a Chief accountant or accountants.

3. Accounting practice

a) In the cases mentioned in Point a Clause 2 of this Article: the current accounting practice shall apply (company accounting practice, administration accounting practice, or another practice that is most suitable)

b) In the cases mentioned in Point b Clause 2 of this Article: the accounting practice depends on the use of capital, project management method, and the structure of the capital user.

Article 26. Financial audit

1. Audit of the annual financial statement of the projects funded by ODA and concessional loans is meant to inspect and verify the legitimacy of the financial statement in the tax year.

2. Annual financial statements of the projects funded by ODA and concessional loans must be audited by State Audit Agency or independent audit organizations as agreed with the donors. If the project funded by ODA and concessional loans is already in the annual audit plan of State Audit Agency and approved by the donor, such financial statement is exempt from independent audit.

3. Financial statements must be audited in accordance with current regulations of law, unless otherwise agreed between the government and donors.

4. The selected audit firms are independent audit firm that operate within Vietnam’s Law, and issued with Certificate of eligibility to provide audit services.

5. Financial statements of separate works that are done may be audited if required by the donor.

6. Project owners must send audit reports made by the independent audit firm that audited the projects to State Audit Agency.

Article 27. Financial statement

1. Annual financial statements:

a) Financial statements of administration projects funded by ODA concessional loans must be made annually in accordance with the Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BTC dated January 02, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance, the amendments to this Circular, or the documents that replace this Circular.

b) Financial statements of construction projects funded by ODA concessional loans must be made annually in accordance with the Circular No. 210/2010/TT-BTC dated December 20, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance, the amendments to this Circular, or the documents that replace this Circular.

2. Financial statement upon project completion:

a) Financial statements finance of projects of investment funded by ODA and concessional loans must be made in accordance with the Circular No. 19/2011/TT-BTC dated February 14, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance, the amendments to this Circular, or the replacement of this Circular.

b) If a project is shut down, dissolved, or merged in the tax year, the Director of the project and the accountants complete the financial statement of the project up to the point when it is shut down, dissolved, or merged before they can do another job, and are responsible for any errors in such statement.

c) The owner of a master project that consists of multiple subprojects shall follow the procedures for submitting financial statements of subprojects and send the result to the governing body of the master project. Such reports shall be aggregated in the financial statement of the whole project.

Article 28. Disbursement reporting

1. The project owner shall make and send the Ministry of Finance a statement of foreign loan disbursement using the form in Appendix 1 to this Circular, when following the procedures for foreign loan disbursement according to Article 15 of this Circular as a basis for recording government budget revenues and expenditures.

2. The project owner must send a report on disbursement completion to the Ministry of Finance within 30 days from the day on which the loan/aid is closed using the form in Appendix 2 to this Circular as the basis for making the financial statement of the project.

3. The project owner shall make and send financial statements to the donor in accordance with the project outline or the concluded loan/aid agreement, and send them to a finance authority at the same level for monitoring and instructions.

4. The governing body shall aggregate and send biannual and annual reports on public debt to the Ministry of Finance using the form in the Circular No. 53/2011/TT-BTC dated April 27, 2011 on reporting and disclosure of information about public debts and national foreign debts.

Article 29. Inspection

Finance authorities and governing bodies of projects may carry out periodic inspections and surprise inspections of adherence to the regulations on financial management in this Circular of the projects funded by ODA and foreign concessional loans, or cooperate with relevant bodies in doing so.

Chapter 10.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Article 30. Asset management

The management and use of assets invested or provided from the projects funded by ODA and concessional loans must comply with current regulations of the Prime Minister and instructions of the Ministry of Finance on management and use of assets of projects funded by state capital.

Article 31. Tax policies

1. Tax policies on the programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans of donors must comply with separate instructions of the Ministry of Finance.

2. The tax polices on programs and projects of the private sector that are funded by ODA and foreign concessional loans: the governing bodies that plan support for the private sector, financial institutions and credit institutions that on-lend loans to the private sector according to credit limit programs, or competent authorities that allow the private sector to access ODA and foreign concessional loans of the government must notify or certify the modality of providing ODA and concessional loans for each particular program/project in order for tax authorities to apply appropriate tax policies to the programs and projects of the private sector that are funded by ODA and concessional loans.

Article 32. Financial management handbooks

Apart from the regulations in this Circular, the Ministry of Finance shall cooperate with the donors (if required) in publishing financial management handbooks. Such handbooks are reference documents that assist other entities in participating in the management and execution of the programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans.

Chapter 11.

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 33. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on February 15, 2013 and supersedes the Circular No. 108/2007/TT-BTC dated September 07, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on financial management of ODA programs and ODA projects; the Circular No. 40/2011/TT-BTC dated March 22, 2011 on amendments to the Circular No. 108/2007/TT-BTC and the Circular No. 107/2011/TT-BTC dated July 20, 2011 on amendments to Article 1 of the Circular No. 40/2011/TT-BTC dated March 22, 2011.

2. During the implementation of this Circular, if the legislative documents cited in this Circular are amended or replaced, the newer ones shall apply.

3. The difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for instructions and settlement./.