An array of solutions aimed at speeding up the disbursement of public investment capital sourced from foreign loans this year were discussed during an online conference on June 25 hosted by the Ministry of Finance in Hanoi.

An overview of the conference. Photo: Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper 

According to Truong Hung Long, head of the Department of Debt Management and External Finance under the Ministry of Finance, the opening half of the year saw the disbursement of public investment capital sourced from foreign loans endure a slowdown.

As of June 24, various ministries, sectors, and localities permitted the allocation of plans for foreign public investment capital which reached 85.2%, equivalent to VND48,286 billion, while disbursed public investment capital from foreign loans stood at VND7,427 billion, accounting for 13.1% of the assigned estimate. Most notably, VND2,815 billion was disbursed by centrally-run ministries and agencies, representing 15.46% and VND4,611 billion by localities, accounting for 11.98% of the assigned estimate.

Moreover, disbursed foreign capital during 2019 was transferred to this year, with a total amount of VND7,198 billion.

“The rate of disbursement of public investment capital from foreign sources under the capital plan in 2020 is 3.6 times higher than the same period in 2019. However, if compared with the disbursement results of domestic public investment capital, the disbursement rate of foreign capital remains low,” Long stated.

Upon conducting an analysis on the slowdown in the disbursement of foreign loans in recent months, the Ministry of Finance noted that there have been many causes, both subjective and objective, involving ministries and localities focusing on disbursing 2019’s assigned budget and capital which has been extended and transferred to this year’s disbursement plan.

Furthermore, the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic has served to seriously affect the implementation progress of the majority of ODA projects.

In order to ensure the effective implementation of the disbursement of public investment capital throughout the year, the Ministry of Finance has requested that the Government and Prime Minister direct ministries, sectors, and localities to urgently put a range of solutions in place. This should be done whilst closely co-ordinating alongside relevant agencies to accelerate the disbursement of public investment, including ODA and foreign concessional loans.