VOV.VN - Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has said that the sluggish disbursement of official development assistance was attributed to the failure of ministries, agencies, and localities to allocate counterpart funds.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks
at the National Assembly’s Q&A session on June 6.

Deputy PM Minh made the statement at the National Assembly’s Q&A session which took place on June 6.

The disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) funded projects has remained sluggish in the past time. Last year, the total ODA disbursement reached only 63.2 per cent of the planned figure. The ratio increased slightly during the first five months of 2019, but still low in comparison with the yearly plan.

When signing ODA loan agreements, financiers have required the Vietnamese side to commit counterpart funds to the ground clearance for projects. At the time, relevant ministries, agencies, and localities all pledged to provide the funds. However, some of them later failed to arrange the funds and could not make proper capital arrangements, the government official said.

Meanwhile, many projects, particularly those in the field of transport, have been criticized for planning - related shortcomings. Another factors causing the slow disbursement includes the poor performance of project management boards and investors, prolonged ground clearance, and fluctuations in exchange rates, he noted.

According to the Ministry of Finance, by May 20 the disbursement of ODA and preferential loans for 2019 had reached about US$1.031 billion. Of the figure, US$737 million had been disbursed in allocated capital while US$294 million had originated from on-lending loans.