Forces in Thanh Hoa province are building rural roads. Photo: Khanh Trinh.

The decision, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang on April 15, clearly states that the allocation of central government budget funds must ensure focused, targeted, effective, and sustainable investment, with the highest priority given to particularly disadvantaged communes and villages, ethnic minority and mountainous areas, security zones, border areas, and islands.

The goal is to create significant changes in socio-economic development, build new rural areas, and achieve sustainable poverty reduction. Management is carried out uniformly in terms of objectives, mechanisms, policies, criteria, and allocation norms.

Based on the 2026 State budget estimates approved by the National Assembly, the central budget will only support localities receiving supplementary budget allocations, prioritizing those with a supplementary allocation rate of 70% or higher.

Local authorities, with their own budgets, are responsible for proactively allocating resources to implement the program's goals and tasks within their jurisdiction. Annual capital allocation to ministries, central agencies, and local authorities must be based on their budgetary capacity and the results of an assessment of implementation, utilization, and disbursement during the 2021-2025 period or the preceding years.

Regarding criteria, Decision No. 16 is based on the number of particularly disadvantaged villages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas and the number of communes in different regions.

Accordingly, a coefficient of 1 is applied to particularly disadvantaged villages. A coefficient of 50 is applied to communes in Zone III inhabited by ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, security zones, border communes, island communes, and special zones. A coefficient of 40 is applied to communes in Zone II. A coefficient of 30 is applied to communes in Zone I. The remaining communes have a coefficient of 25. In cases where a commune simultaneously falls under multiple categories, only the highest coefficient is applied; duplication or aggregation is not permitted.

The allocation must take into account priority criteria based on the proportion of supplementary local budget allocations. Specifically, localities with a proportion of 70% or more will be given a priority coefficient of 0.4. From 50% to less than 70%, a coefficient of 0.2 will be applied. Below 50%, no coefficient will be applied. The priority level is determined by multiplying the corresponding coefficient by the total number of communes in the locality as of March 31, 2026.

Regarding the allocation of capital at the local level, based on the total budget and allocated capital plan, along with the resolution of the Provincial People's Council and actual conditions, the Provincial People's Committee shall develop a plan for allocating central government budget funds and integrated resources to the provincial and commune levels, and submit it to the Provincial People's Council for decision or delegate the authority to the commune level to make detailed decisions.

The allocation of funds should prioritize particularly disadvantaged areas and avoid overlapping content and target groups with other programs and projects in the same area.

Regarding counterpart funding, the decision stipulates that the total allocation from the local budget for the period 2026-2030 must comply with the level prescribed in Resolution No. 257/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly - approving the investment policy for the National Target Program on building new rural areas , sustainable poverty reduction and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026-2035.

Localities receiving support from the central budget are responsible for allocating local budgets in their five-year and annual plans, ensuring that the allocation is not lower than the prescribed percentage. Localities not receiving support are responsible for balancing their budgets and mobilizing other legal sources to implement the program.

In addition, there is a responsibility to allocate resources for activities that do not use central government budget funds, including supporting wards in implementing poverty reduction policies and policies for ethnic minority and mountainous areas, prioritizing wards in Zone III and particularly disadvantaged villages.

Budgetary funds are also used to support communes that have already achieved the new rural standard to continue striving to achieve advanced and modern standards. At the same time, they are used to complete the tasks of building new rural areas at the provincial and city levels, as well as other contents decided by the Provincial People's Council, in order to achieve the program's objectives.