The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has vowed to halve the country’s government cars by 2020, and demanded that government bodies report on plans to build new headquarters.

In a recent letter sent to multiple departments, the Ministry of Finance said it was looking to draft a decision which would cut between 30 and 50 percent of public cars by the year 2020.

The cut will not affect public cars specifically appointed to senior officials, or those belonging to government bodies in underprivileged areas, the letter said.

It also asked that the spending on and use of public cars be monitored closely to prevent wastefulness, in line with an earlier directive by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The overwhelming majority of Vietnam’s 40,000 public cars are used for general purposes, as opposed to just over 900 cars appointed to senior officials for their working commutes, according to the ministry’s statistics.

In addition to the cut in public cars, the Ministry of Finance has also demanded that government-level authorities seek its permission prior to spending public budgets on building, renewing or renovating headquarters.

Provincial-level agencies are each to report to their respective department of finance, according to the announcement.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!