Vietnamplus

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.

Legal steps for operating ODA projects are simplified to accelerate the disbursement of the soft foreign loans after amendments to nine laws took effect earlier this month, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The disbursed amount of public investment funded by official development assistance (ODA) in localities in the first five months of this year stood at only over 1.1 trillion VND (47.9 million USD), equivalent to just 1.73 percent of the year’s target, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) this year was estimated at 718.3 billion VND (31.33 million USD) as of May 31, or 25.2 percent of the target.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on October 29 ordered competent ministries, sectors, and localities to take stronger actions to speed up the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and foreign loans for 2020, as disbursement remains at a critically-low level.

The disbursement of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in localities has sped up from seven months to only three to four months, contributing to lowering loan interests on State budget.

The sudden appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic with complex and unforeseeable developments has seriously impacted business and production activities across the country, including projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital and concessional loans.

While the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) has seen progress, without drastic solutions, it will be difficult for ministries and sectors to achieve allocation targets, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha has said.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on June 29 urged Ho Chi Minh City to ask for the facilitation of the implementation of Metro Line No. 1 project in order to increase public disbursement for the locality.

Disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) in the first half of the year was estimated at more than 4.17 trillion VND (179.7 million USD), accounting for only 6.9 percent of the National Assembly’s plan and 12.7 percent of that assigned by the Prime Minister, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

Slow site clearance is a deeply-ingrained problem that has dogged the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) loans, Director General of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Economic Relations Department Luu Quang Khanh.

Disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) hit over 1.6 trillion VND in the first five months of this year, equivalent to only 2.7 percent and 5.6 percent of targets assigned by the National Assembly and Government for the whole year, respectively, which were alarming figures, said Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung on June 26.

Although budget collection goes higher than estimate, the disbursement of investment capital remains slow.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged faster disbursement of ODA capital and concessional loans while chairing a meeting with some ministries, sectors and localities in Hanoi on August 1.

Hastening the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loans remains a huge task for the remaining two months of this year.

Vietnam treasures ties with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), considering the lender one of the top donors in the supply of capital, technical assistance and policy consultation.

The HCM City People’s Committee set out to accelerate the disbursement of projects using official development assistance (ODA) loans after a low disbursement rate in the first half this year.