The slow disbursement of foreign public investment in the first half of this year was mainly due to projects that can’t be completed, and these bottlenecks should be cut out of the master plan as they slow the release of funds. In the first six months of this year, disbursement of public investment from foreign loans reached only 9 percent of the assigned plan, according to Vo Huu Hien, Deputy Director of the Department of Debt Management and External Finance under the Ministry of Finance. Hien cited the data at a conference on July 1 to review the disbursement of public investment from foreign capital in the first half of 2022.

No work completed

According to Decision No. 2048/QD-TTg dated December 6, 2021 of the Prime Minister, the foreign public investment plan in 2022 is estimated at 34.8 trillion VND (1.47 billion USD). The Ministry of Finance reported that ministries, sectors and localities have allocated a detailed disbursement plan. However, the disbursement of public investment from foreign loans reached only 9 percent of the plan. “The main reason behind this is the sluggish implementation of work such as land clearance, resettlement and bidding,” Hien said. In addition, some projects had investment policies and loan agreements adjusted, which affected the disbursement process. Others are slow in conducting acceptance, payment or consolidating the management board. Unexpected weather conditions such as flood and landslide also hampered the implementation of some projects.

Heads must be responsible

Public investment disbursement is an important political task, which aims to recover the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past time, the government and prime minister have directed ministries, departments and localities to speed up the work. Therefore, heads of ministries, departments and communities must be responsible for ensuring the full disbursement of foreign public investment. To fulfill the set goal, the Ministry of Finance asked relevant ministries, departments and communities to find bottlenecks and promptly remove difficulties in disbursing public investment. Disbursement should be stepped up in potential projects or those completing investment procedures, bidding works, and contract approval. Projects that are unlikely to be completed must be cut out of the plan, Hien suggested. For programs and projects that need investment adjustments, Hien said, ministries, departments and localities should report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment soon for submission to the government for approval. Based on that, ministries, departments and localities will coordinate with the finance ministry to adjust the disbursement schedule and capital allocation according to signed loan agreements. Additionally, project owners and management boards must be in charge of completing investment, construction, resettlement, and land clearance to implement projects as soon as possible. Hien said the finance ministry will continue work to remove difficulties and take synchronous measures to speed up the disbursement of public investment, as well as further apply information technology in ODA and preferential loan disbursement. In addition, the Ministry of Finance will soon submit to the Government a draft amending Decree No. 114/2021/ND-CP dated December 16, 2021 on the management and use of ODA and preferential loans. The amended decree is in line with law No.3/2022/QH15 adopted by the legislature on January 11, 2022, towards the simplification of procedures to remove bottlenecks in foreign capital disbursement. The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport will coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to review, study and develop a set of relevant legal regulations./.