Disbursement of public investment was low in January due to impacts of the week-long Tet holiday, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Nearly 18.7 trillion VND (803.4 million USD) of public investment was disbursed in the first month of 2020, equivalent to 4.2 percent of the yearly plan, and up 8.4 percent from the same time last year.

The disbursement of capital managed by ministries exceeded 2.63 trillion VND (113 million USD), accounting for 3.8 percent of the yearly plan and rising 11.9 percent against 2018’s January. Meanwhile, the disbursed amount managed by localities surged 7.8 percent year on year to over 16 trillion VND (688 million USD), or 4.3 percent of the set plan.

In a bid to improve the efficiency of the disbursed capital, the GSO recommended investors complete necessary procedures soon so that their projects will be carried out in accordance with schedule.

The GSO also unveiled that state budget collection in the first 15 days of the month totalled 39.1 trillion VND (1.68 billion USD), or 2.6 percent of the estimates for the whole year.

Of the total amount, domestic collection hit 23.8 trillion VND (1.02 billion USD), while that from crude oil and import-export activities were estimated at 4.2 trillion VND and 11.1 trillion VND, respectively.