HCMC – The country disbursed over VND177.8 trillion of public investment capital between January and July, meeting a mere 29.7% of the entire year’s target, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The public capital disbursement is forecast to amount to VND212.2 trillion at the end of August, meeting only 35.5% of the full-year target. According to the Ministry of Finance, 35 ministries and 20 cities and provinces posted low disbursement rates of below 35%, while there were 27 ministries and three localities with disbursement rates at lower than 20% of the targets. In addition, among the ministries, the Ministry of Health reported the lowest disbursement rate at 4.17%. The slow capital disbursement was attributed to obstacles over mechanism and policies on land, natural resources, public investment, bidding and State budget plans; rising prices of materials, oil and gasoline products; and slow site clearance. To accelerate public capital disbursement, Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment, proposed promptly removing hindrances to the law on public investment and amending and supplementing related regulations. Early and thorough preparation for projects is needed to speed up the disbursement rate, said Minister Dung. The government is considering proposing the National Assembly allow separating site clearance into an independent project to hasten work on projects, Minister Dung added. The Ministry of Finance also told other ministries, governmental agencies and localities to strictly follow the government’s directives on socioeconomic recovery and capital disbursement.