The disbursement rate of public investment capital in the first 9 months reached more than 47% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Illustration photo: ST

Progress is slowing down

A report from the Ministry of Finance said that it is estimated that by the end of the third quarter of 2024, the whole country will have disbursed nearly VND 320,567 billion in public investment capital, reaching nearly 43% of the annual plan, reaching nearly 47.3% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, lower than the same period in 2023 (reaching 47.7% of the plan and reaching 51.4% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister).

The results achieved in the first 9 months of the year as above show that the disbursement progress is slowing down, leading to many challenges in the disbursement of public investment capital for the whole year of 2024.

Regarding ministries, branches and localities, the Ministry of Finance said that 15/44 ministries, central agencies and 37 localities have disbursement rates estimated to be above the national average. Some ministries, central and local agencies with good disbursement rates include: Vietnam Television (100%), Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (100%), State Bank (75.23%), Vietnam Women's Union (70.46%), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (63.12%), Long An (71.5%), Hoa Binh (68.4%), Tien Giang (67.9%), Thanh Hoa (66.64%).

However, 29/44 ministries, central agencies and 26 localities have disbursed lower than the national average. In particular, some ministries and central agencies have not allocated capital such as the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance; or have very low disbursement rates below 10% such as the Ethnic Committee (1.12%), the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (1.35%), Ho Chi Minh City National University (4.11%), the Ministry of Science and Technology (5.52%), the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs (6.76%), etc.

Some localities have disbursement rates below 30% such as: Ho Chi Minh City (21.29%), Phu Yen (22.38%), Bac Ninh (24.48%), Kon Tum (25.62%), Kien Giang (26.93%).

According to the Ministry of Finance, the fact that some localities have large planned capital such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi but the disbursement rate is not high which has greatly affected the overall disbursement rate of the whole country.

In addition, the problems in the disbursement of public investment capital have not been completely resolved. These are problems related to policy mechanisms, site clearance, land use planning and material supply as well as the completion of investment procedures and disbursement processes of ODA projects. In addition, many ministries, branches and localities have not yet allocated detailed tasks and projects.

It is necessary to learn from experience, resolutely promote disbursement

To achieve the target of disbursing at least 95% of the plan, the Ministry of Finance requests ministries, central agencies and localities to continue to resolutely implement tasks and solutions to promote disbursement of public investment capital according to the direction of the Prime Minister. At the same time, implement tasks according to Decision No. 1006/QD-TTg dated September 19, 2024 of the Prime Minister on establishing working groups to inspect, urge, remove difficulties and obstacles, and promote annual disbursement of public investment capital at ministries, central agencies and localities.

The Ministry of Finance also requests ministries, branches and localities to learn from experience in organizing and implementing. In particular, for large-scale projects with complex technical requirements, spanning many localities, urgent construction time, difficult terrain and weather conditions, and shortage of raw materials, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision, clearly assign responsibilities, and closely coordinate between levels and sectors to ensure scientific and effective work.

However, impacts from the economic context will also affect the progress of public investment disbursement.

According to experts from VNDirect Securities Company, some factors that can promote public investment in the last months of the year include the urgent need to restore infrastructure damaged by storm No. 3, including roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. In a recent meeting on overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also requested to accelerate key public investment projects and national target programs to promote economic recovery.

Furthermore, VNDirect experts believe that the high surplus of the state budget will also support the expansion of fiscal policy and promote public investment to restore the economy. The pressure on the exchange rate has helped reduce the burden of public debt on the Government, while the cooling inflation and stable construction material prices in recent months have also created favorable conditions to accelerate the implementation of key national transport infrastructure projects such as the North-South Expressway to the East Phase 2 and Long Thanh International Airport.

In the long term, according to experts, amending public investment policies is necessary. Currently, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is coordinating with relevant agencies to amend the Law on Public Investment in the direction of increasing decentralization to shorten the time for implementing procedures to adjust medium-term public investment plans, etc. In the draft Law amending 7 laws submitted to the Government, the Ministry of Finance has proposed amending and supplementing a number of contents in the State Budget Law, including adding regulations on state budget expenditures for compensation, site clearance, project appraisal... to help agencies and localities proactively arrange funds from public investment expenditure sources and regular state budget expenditures for implementation, thereby helping to remove related obstacles in implementing public investment.