Lê Hồng Phong Street in Hậu Giang Province being upgraded. It was necessary to strengthen discipline in public investment disbursement. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Thái

HÀ NỘI — It is necessary to develop measures to prevent ministries, agencies and localities from asking for the reduction of allocated public investment but to hasten disbursement to increase discipline and drive economic growth, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In a recent report to the National Assembly in response to the request to clarify why several ministries, agencies and localities asked for a reduction in the public investment allocated to them in 2022, the ministry said that the reduction of allocated public investment would affect the 13th National Party Congress’s goals set in the five-year plan and 10-year strategy.

The ministry said that it was also necessary to have sanctions for cases of asking for a reduction in the annual allocated public investment and to increase discipline in public investment.

The ministry pointed out that from 2020, some ministries, central-level agencies and localities asked for a reduction in allocated public investment, especially official development assistance (ODA), which failed to be disbursed. Statistics showed that the public investment sum which was proposed to be reduced increased from VNĐ14 trillion in 2020 to more than VNĐ20 trillion in 2021.

A representative from the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the failure in disbursing all allocated public investment would affect the projects' progress and investment efficiency, causing a waste of resources.

The reasons for slow public investment disbursement included poor preparations for projects and lack of feasibility in the development of public investment projects. In addition, the public investment discipline and compliance with the established laws on public investment remained not strict enough, the ministry said.

In response to the slow disbursement of public investment, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính late last week signed an official dispatch requiring all ministries, sectors and localities to speed up the disbursement of public investment in the remaining months of 2022 and early 2023.

Under the document, to maintain the recovery momentum and gain an economic growth rate of about 8 per cent in 2022, the focus must be placed on accelerating the disbursement of public investment, considering this a driving force for growth and a key political task.

In addition, the settlement of site clearance, compensation and resettlement support must be sped up and provided in a timely and correct manner, ensuring compliance with the established laws and harmonising the interests of the State and people.

It was necessary to strengthen discipline in public investment disbursement, and prepare all the best conditions to quickly complete investment procedures, he stressed.

The finance ministry’s statistics showed that the public investment disbursement rate as of the end of October was only 51.34 per cent of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.