p align = “center” official vehicle budget reduction shows the government’s determination to take the lead in living a tight life
■ our reporter Zhang Shuhui
Recently, 95 central departments have “revealed” the purchase and operation budget of official vehicles in 2022. Among them, more than 80% of the official vehicle budget of the central department was reduced or flat compared with last year. On the whole, the total budget for the purchase and operation of official vehicles of the central department this year decreased by nearly 0.4% year-on-year, demonstrating the government’s determination to take the lead in living a tight life.
It is understood that this year, a total of 102 central departments set up the “central budget and final accounts disclosure platform” on the portal website of the Ministry of finance to centrally disclose the departmental budget in 2022, which is the 13th consecutive year that the central department has promoted budget disclosure. Among them, 95 central departments announced the budget for the purchase and operation of official vehicles, accounting for more than 93%. Compared with last year, there are also four “new faces” in the team that publicized the official vehicle budget this year, namely, the China Seismological Bureau, the China Geological Survey, the Central Institute of socialism and the Chinese Academy of engineering.
responding to the call to reduce expenditure
The title page of the department budget of the Ministry of Finance for 2022, which was first published, marked the requirements similar to those of last year: “in 2022, we will implement the requirements of tight living, continue to vigorously reduce general expenditure and spend money on the blade.” Looking through the 2022 departmental budget documents of the central department, the reporter found that most central departments this year are emphasizing that in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on living a tight life, they should strictly practice economy and do all undertakings, oppose extravagance and waste, and strictly control the scale of “three public” funds.
In the past 30 years of China’s bus reform, reducing the cost of official vehicles has become a general trend. As the “vanguard” of reform, in recent years, the central department has repeatedly tightened the purchase and operation costs of official vehicles.
According to the reporter’s statistics, this year, the central department has generally reduced the budget for the purchase and operation of official vehicles. More than 80% of the central department has effectively improved the budget binding force of “three public” funds, and the budget amount for the purchase and operation of official vehicles is lower or equal than that of the previous year. For example, the Ministry of water resources, the State Post Office and other departments have decreased in the purchase and operation costs of official vehicles.
Taking the Ministry of water resources as an example, the Department’s budget for the purchase and operation of official vehicles in 2022 was 534752 million yuan, a decrease of 4.5267 million yuan or 7.80% compared with the budget in 2021. Among them, the purchase cost of official vehicles was 2.404 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 23%; The operating cost of official vehicles was 510712 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 7%.
In view of the “double drop”, some insiders believe that the reason for the decline is, on the one hand, to control the “three public” funds and reduce the purchase of official vehicles; On the other hand, with the reduction of the number of official vehicles, the costs of vehicle operation and maintenance are also reduced.
In addition, the official vehicles retained by many departments are in stable operation and use, and there is no need to update the vehicles. Therefore, the purchase cost of official vehicles is zero. For example, the State Forestry and grassland administration, the National Council of social security funds, the China Association for the elderly, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, etc. Taking the State Forestry and grassland administration as an example, the Department’s 2022 department budget statement released by the Department shows that this year, the Department’s official vehicle purchase fee is 0 yuan, and the official vehicle operation fee is 4.7724 million yuan, a decrease of 813600 yuan over the previous year.
It is worth noting that the official vehicle budget is not shown in the departmental budget documents of the national medical security administration and the national agency for international development and cooperation, because the operating expenses of the state organ affairs administration include the official vehicle operating expenses of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the national medical security administration and the national Agency for international development and cooperation.
market is small, but there are still opportunities
On the whole, the purchase and operation budget of official vehicles shows a downward trend compared with last year, but for automobile manufacturers and vehicle operation and maintenance service providers, the official vehicle market is not without a “cake”. According to statistics, some departments have increased the purchase and operation costs of official vehicles this year.
On the one hand, some central departments need to purchase new vehicles because the vehicles have reached the scrapped service life and have no maintenance value. For example, the purchase and operation cost of official vehicles of the Ministry of science and technology this year was 3.3684 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.34%. Among them, the purchase cost of official vehicles was 1.52 million yuan, an increase of 1.2 million yuan over last year, mainly due to the fact that some vehicles did not meet the emission standards and had reached the service life of scrapping, and relevant units applied for updating vehicles according to regulations.
The budget for the purchase and operation of official vehicles of the Ministry of transport in 2022 was 1045894 million yuan, basically the same as last year. However, the purchase cost of official vehicles was 177564 million yuan, an increase of 4.8722 million yuan, mainly due to the renewal of vehicles according to the vehicle reform plan.
The budget of the Fire Rescue Bureau of the emergency management department for the purchase and operation of official vehicles in 2022 was 187412500 yuan, a decrease of 108284 million yuan compared with last year. However, in fact, the budget of the Department this year was 22.074 million yuan to purchase 4279 vehicles, an increase of 105432 million yuan compared with last year.
On the other hand, although the purchase funds of official vehicles in some departments remain unchanged or decrease, the vehicle operation and maintenance costs have increased, such as the Ministry of industry and information technology, the Ministry of justice, the National Immigration administration, etc. Taking the National Immigration administration as an example, the department spent 4976994 million yuan on the purchase and operation of official vehicles in 2022, unchanged from the total amount of last year, but adjusted the proportion of purchase and operation expenses. Among them, the purchase cost of official vehicles was 671358 million yuan, a decrease of 1419133 million yuan over the previous year; Accordingly, the operating cost of official vehicles increased to 430563600 yuan. According to the person in charge of the Department, there are three main reasons for this budget arrangement: first, implement the tight living requirements, continue to retain the temporarily available official vehicles for use, and reduce the purchase plan of official vehicles; Second, during the transition period, the scrapping of unusable vehicles will be suspended, and the vehicles will be scrapped and updated successively after the establishment of vehicles is re approved. The updated vehicles will be put into use, and the operation and maintenance expenses will be increased accordingly; Third, after the normalization of covid-19 pneumonia epidemic prevention and control, the pressure of “external defense input” at border ports is huge, the task of front-line law enforcement is heavy, coupled with the poor natural environment and complex road conditions in remote and difficult areas, the expenditure on vehicle operation and maintenance increases accordingly.
the less the better is a misunderstanding
According to the departmental budget data of 2022 released by various central departments, the purchase and operation costs of official vehicles in some departments, such as the State Food and materials reserve bureau and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, are as high as tens of millions of yuan, while in some departments, such as the Ministry of Finance and the all China Federation of supply and marketing cooperatives, there are millions of yuan, and China Post Group Co., Ltd., China Publishing & Media Holdings Co.Ltd(601949) Group Co., Ltd. do not use financial allocations to arrange official vehicle expenditures.
Some people may question: why is the budget gap between central departments so large?
“At present, official vehicles are mainly law enforcement vehicles and necessary emergency vehicles. For departments that do not involve these, the budget of official vehicles will naturally be greatly reduced,” said Wang Conghu, a professor at the school of public management of Renmin University of China
In addition, “due to the service life, the official vehicles equipped by some departments may have reached the upper limit of service life and need to be replaced intensively. Then, the budget of this department will be on the high side this year, but the cost will be reduced next year or even in the next few years.” Jiang Aihua, a professor at the school of Finance and taxation of the Central University of Finance and economics, said.
Others may have an incomplete understanding that the less the official vehicle funds, the better.
In response, Jiang Aihua said: “to implement the requirement of living a tight life is to live a tight life under the condition of ensuring normal operation, spend less money and do more things as much as possible. The key is to be reasonable and moderate, not the less the better. The bottom line is to ensure the provision of basic public services.”
