Question 2: What does the national treasury mean?
Treasury, short for treasury. How to define this concept is still controversial in academic circles. Correctly revealing the meaning of the national treasury is the most fundamental problem, which directly affects the management and operation of the national treasury and the legal construction of the national treasury management. The so-called national treasury refers to the operation mode that the government concentrates all financial funds (including budgetary funds and extra-budgetary funds in China) in an account opened by a designated agent bank for centralized management, and all financial funds are collected, distributed and liquidated through this account. It consists of centralized income system and centralized payment system, and it is a common mode of government funds revenue and expenditure in market economy countries.
From the above definition, the understanding of the concept of national treasury includes the following meanings:
First of all, the national treasury is first and foremost the general cashier organ of national financial funds. Determined by the nature of the country, the country itself has no source of income, and can only concentrate its financial resources through taxation and other means, and use these resources to perform state functions and maintain normal operation. Therefore, as the cashier of these financial resources, the national treasury is bound to have close ties with state functional institutions at all levels. It is not only responsible for ensuring the timely and efficient collection of state taxes, but also for ensuring the convenience, appropriateness and efficiency of the use of taxes by state functional institutions and departments at all levels.
Second, more importantly, the national treasury is responsible for implementing the national budget. The national treasury faces budget units at all levels in the country, and in accordance with the provisions of the fiscal grading budget, it divides and divides income among the finances at all levels; In accordance with the provisions of the classification of budgetary revenues, report the warehousing situation of budgetary revenues to the Ministry of Finance and local financial organs at the same level every day; It is also necessary to timely handle the disbursement of state treasury funds and report financial inventory regularly. These tasks undoubtedly reflect the concentration and distribution process of the country's main financial resources, as well as the remaining situation and results. It can be seen that the treasury work is essentially an important part of the implementation of the entire national budget and serves the smooth realization of the national budget revenue and expenditure tasks.
Third, the data provided by the national treasury is one of the most reliable data and the most important source of information for the state to carry out macro-control of the economy. From a macro perspective, the data provided by the national treasury directly reflects the financial strength of a country and a region, and reflects the economic development level and development trend of various departments of the national economy; Microscopically, the data provided by the national treasury can reflect the production and operation level of an enterprise and a unit and its contribution to the country. Therefore, the data provided by the national treasury is of great significance for governments at all levels to comprehensively analyze the economic situation and make correct macro-decisions.
Historically, the national treasury refers to the warehouse that keeps gold, grain and other physical assets for the rulers. In China, the "Regulations on the State Treasury" clearly stipulates that the State Treasury (hereinafter referred to as the Treasury) is responsible for handling the revenue and expenditure of state budget funds. For this reason, the "national treasury" in the traditional concept refers to the "national treasury" responsible for the collection, division, retention and disbursement of fiscal revenue. With the expansion of economic and government financial activities, the traditional concept of national treasury can no longer meet the needs of current financial development, and the functions of modern national treasury have expanded to include macro-financial management, government cash and debt management and many other aspects. At present, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) generally adopts the definition of the function of the national treasury, that is, the national treasury not only refers to the national treasury, but more importantly refers to a series of management functions that finance controls budget execution and keeps government assets and liabilities on behalf of the government.
With the development of economy and the constant change of economic system, the government functions are becoming more and more complex and expanding, which leads to the rapid expansion of financial functions, especially under the direct effect of expansionary fiscal policies, the significance of the national treasury is also changing. In the traditional sense, the national treasury is only the organ that manages the national budget revenue and expenditure, which is responsible for receiving and distributing the national budget funds, reflecting and supervising the implementation of the national budget, and serving as the function and task of the national macroeconomic decision-making information base. However, under the condition of modern market economy, the traditional passive treasury system centered on "treasury management" [1] can no longer meet the practical needs. Based on revenue and expenditure accounting and relying on comprehensive, accurate and timely revenue and expenditure information, it has become the core function of the national treasury of modern market economy to manage and control revenue and expenditure activities in an all-round way. Therefore, the modern national treasury no longer exists only as a trustee of government funds, but as an active manager of government cash and finance, and on this basis, with comprehensive and timely information advantages, it becomes a management institution that comprehensively manages government financial revenue and expenditure activities. [2] This understanding actually implies the significance of regulating government financial funds and financial activities, and it is also in line with the trend of economic democracy and financial legalization and standardization.
Functions and powers of the national treasury
1. Functions of the national treasury
As the "national treasury" of a country, its primary duty is to ensure that the treasury funds are fully, safely and efficiently used. The full amount is to receive the state budget revenue accurately and timely. All fiscal revenues of the state shall be paid into the state treasury in accordance with the requirements of fiscal and tax laws and regulations and the payment methods stipulated by the state treasury system. The national treasury shall be put into storage and divided in a timely manner according to the different budget levels of the central and local governments and the budget subjects stipulated by the state. The budgetary revenue belonging to the finance at the same level shall be transferred to the relevant accounts of the finance at the same level in time; The budgetary revenue belonging to the higher-level finance shall be transferred to the higher-level treasury in a timely manner through inter-bank transactions in accordance with relevant regulations. Security is to formulate the relevant procedures and management systems for the storage and expenditure of treasury funds, clarify the specific responsibilities and authority of each post, and not give criminals an opportunity. Effective use mainly includes two aspects: first, in the process of allocating budget funds, the state treasury should carefully examine and verify in strict accordance with the expenditure authority and procedures, and refuse to pay those who violate the national financial system to ensure the rational use of state treasury funds; Second, after the use of budgetary funds, the state treasury should use a scientific evaluation index system to audit the efficiency of the use of funds to ensure the efficiency of the use of state treasury funds.
On the basis of ensuring the full, safe and effective use of state treasury funds, the state treasury is also responsible for providing accurate and timely information on the implementation of state budget revenue and expenditure. Budget revenue and expenditure execution figures are not only the basis for checking and analyzing the budget implementation, but also the important information of national macro-decision. According to the relevant regulations of the state treasury, the sub-treasury shall divide the budget income received after the end of daily business, and prepare various reports according to the prescribed budget levels and budget subjects. The budget revenue and expenditure statements submitted by the branch library to the financial organ at the same level and the state treasury at a higher level include the daily report, the ten-day report, the monthly report, the inventory report, the total amount sharing calculation table and the annual final account table. And regularly check with the financial and tax departments to ensure that the figures are accurate and consistent.
With the information superiority of the national treasury in budgetary revenue and expenditure and utilization efficiency, the national treasury bears more and more responsibilities for the scientific preparation of the national budget. In many countries, the national treasury is directly responsible for the preparation of the national budget. It can be said that the national treasury is responsible for or involved in the design and compilation of the national budget plan, which is the inevitable result of the comprehensive and effective control of the financial budget funds by the national treasury and the inevitable requirement of promoting the optimal allocation of financial resources.
2. The main authority of the national treasury
The national treasury must conscientiously implement the national guidelines, policies and financial systems, and act in strict accordance with the laws and regulations of the national treasury system and budget management. Its main powers are: the right to prepare or participate in the preparation of the national budget, and the right to question the scientific and rational nature of the national budget; Have the right to supervise the normal operation and standardized use of budget funds; Have the right to track and audit the efficiency of the use of budget funds; Have the right to reject all illegal applications for treasury funds; Have the right to punish those responsible for violating the operating procedures and systems of state treasury funds. For example, it has the right to check whether all the money collected by the treasury collection office and other collection agencies is paid into the state treasury in time according to the regulations, and it can be investigated and dealt with in time if it is found that there is delay or illegal non-payment; To arbitrarily change the share stipulated by the higher financial authority to stay in solution ratio, not to return to the library according to the scope, items and examination and approval procedures stipulated by the state, in violation of the provisions of the financial system, not in conformity with the provisions of receipts and payments vouchers, or to fill in inaccurate or incomplete vouchers, etc. , they have the right to refuse to accept or execute.
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of treasury management and the effective operation of state budget funds, many countries stipulate that the treasury shall exercise its functions and powers according to law, and the above powers shall not be interfered or obstructed by any unit or individual.
Historical evolution of the national treasury system in major countries and regions in the world
The national treasury system has a history of several decades. So far, OECD countries include the United States, Japan, Britain, France and so on. Italy, Norway, Greece, etc. have generally implemented the national treasury system. It has also been established one after another, and some developing countries are also studying and trying it out.
The emergence of the national treasury system has its specific historical background. The most fundamental point is the multi-head account management of government financial funds, which largely stays in the accounts of various budget departments, resulting in inefficient use of financial funds. The national treasury system can effectively manage the government revenue and expenditure and ensure that the government revenue and expenditure are standardized according to the requirements of the budget. This is the reason why OECD countries generally adopt it, and it is also proved by the practice of all countries in the world.
Because the establishment of the national treasury system involves huge interest redistribution and system readjustment, it will inevitably be strongly opposed by vested interests. It will not happen overnight, and there is an arduous process from theoretical research to practical application to implementation. For example, Taiwan Province Province began to study the national treasury system from 1958, and after many twists and turns, it was not implemented until 1977.
At present, the international treasury management system has three basic characteristics:
1. adopts the management of single treasury account, and all financial funds are only stored in the single treasury account and accounted in the general ledger system.
2. Before the payment occurs, the deposit balance of financial funds is only kept in the single account of the national treasury, and only when the payment actually occurs will the funds flow out of the single account of the national treasury.
3. There is a special payment execution management organization.
For example, there are more than 1900 people in the United States; More than 3,000 French public accountants in various departments have issued payment orders; Hungary's national treasury reform has just been completed, with more than 800 people; At present, China's treasury department has just been established, with 37 people.
What does the state reserve?
Treasury is divided into two categories: financial treasury and property treasury. Like Russia, all financial receipts and payments of treasury funds are carried out through treasury accounts set up by the Ministry of Finance in the Russian Central Bank and its branches. Treasury is the sum of all state-owned assets. In this sense, the property vault not only stores precious metals such as gold and silver, but also stores various fixed assets. However, because of state-owned land, government offices, warships, planes, etc. There is no need to collect, but what really needs to be collected and kept in the state treasury are gold, dollars and various bonds with small volume and great value.
Many personal belongings confiscated by the government will be auctioned after being put into the state treasury, because the government has not kept these odds and ends, but turned them into money. For example, in new york, USA, things confiscated by the customs are auctioned several times a year.
As we all know, the Swiss treasury is full of gold. At present, the currency circulation of all countries is no longer linked to the gold stock in their national treasury, except Switzerland. Switzerland always has enough gold in its treasury, so it still maintains the only gold standard in the world. According to the latest data released by the World Gold Council, at present, the total national debt gold reserves in the world are 32,946 tons, among which countries and international organizations with reserves exceeding 1 1,000 tons include the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and the International Monetary Fund. At present, the Swiss national treasury has 2590 tons of gold reserves, accounting for about 7.7% of the total gold reserves of national treasuries around the world. Per capita, Switzerland has the most gold per capita in the world. Reid, chief analyst of UBS's precious metals department, told reporters that in addition to precious metals such as gold and silver and dollar assets, the Swiss treasury also has a certain amount of major hard currencies such as euros and pounds and foreign government bonds; In addition, the Swiss national treasury not only manages a huge amount of fixed assets, but also makes various financial investments by hook or by crook on the principle of revitalizing rich funds as much as possible.
In Japan's treasury, precious metals such as foreign exchange, foreign bonds and gold are mainly deposited, as well as special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund and notes of the World Bank. According to the statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance on June 65438+1October 65438+1October 0 1, by the end of February 2004, the foreign exchange reserves in Japan's treasury were equivalent to 844.543 billion US dollars. Among them, foreign currency bonds converted into US dollars were 699.398 billion; Foreign currency cash124.866 billion USD, part of which is deposited in foreign central banks and banks for international settlements, part of which is deposited in financial institutions in Japan, and part of which is deposited in branches of foreign financial institutions in Japan; In addition, there are special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund and notes of the World Bank, amounting to $9.503 billion. There is also a gold reserve equivalent to $6543.8+$00.776 billion.
There are not only monetary gold in Russian treasury, but also foreign exchange reserves, and some gold and foreign exchange reserves abroad. In the 1950s, in order to avoid the danger that the dollars of oil income were frozen by the US government in the United States, the Soviet Union deposited a large amount of foreign exchange income in Europe, forming a large number of "offshore dollars" that were not controlled by the US government.