The capital city of Hanoi disbursed close to VND34.3 trillion (nearly US$1.49 billion) in public investment last year, representing 88.1% of the goal set by the government.

The intersection between Belt Road No.3 and Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway
is open to traffic last weekend. Its construction was funded by Hanoi's budget.
(Photo: nhandan.com.vn)

The percentage was higher than to 2019’s 76.7%; and the city is among 17 cities and provinces with disbursement rates of 80% or higher.

However, it was reported that a number of local units have seen sluggish disbursement of public capital and failed to realise the goals.

In a recently-issued notice, the municipal People’s Committee has requested its departments, agencies and district- and town-level administrations to take more drastic actions to speed up the disbursement of public investment in the city by the end of January.

The entire city must make all-out efforts to increase the 2020 disbursement rate to the highest possible, the notice said.

Vietnam’s disbursement of public investment was estimated at VND398 trillion (US$17.24 billion) as of the end of December, meeting 82.8% of the Government’s plan – the highest rate in the 2016-20 period, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In comparison, the disbursement rates were 80.3%, 73.3%, 68,87% and 67.46% in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The disbursement of public investment sourced from the State budget was estimated at 91.1% of the 2020 plan, the highest rate in the past ten years.

Seventeen ministries, central-level agencies and 17 provinces and cities had disbursement rates of 80% or higher. However, 13 ministries and central-level agencies and five localities reported public investment disbursement rates of below 60%.

Still, the disbursement missed the Government’s target though public investment was identified as the key driver for economic growth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministry said that the COVID-19 pandemic was also significantly affecting the progress of public investment disbursement as well as the implementation of public-funded projects.