Deputy PM anxious at slow allocation, disbursement of public investment

Chairing a meeting on the work in Hanoi on July 4, the Deputy PM said the delay affected economic growth, State budget collection, job generation and the efficiency of capital use. 

The Minister of Planning and Investment must pinpoint the responsibilities of those involved in the work and report to the Prime Minister before July 30, he said. 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) reported at the meeting that the total investment capital from the State budget, excluding Government bonds, planned for 2017 is 307.15 trillion VND (13.5 billion USD). 

By the end of June, more than 303.07 trillion VND (13.3 billion USD) or 98.7 percent of the sum was allocated. The remaining 4.074 trillion VND was capital intended for the national target programme on climate change response and green growth, two new projects of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, and capital allocated by ministries, agencies and local administrations in violation of rules. 

Meanwhile, the accumulated Government bond-sourced investment for 2017 is nearly VND66.46 trillion (US$2.9 billon), of which only close to VND11.5 trillion (US$506 million) was allocated during January-June.   

According to the Finance Ministry, by the end of June, disbursed investment capital stood at around VND91.4 trillion (US$4.02 billion), fulfilling just 25.6 percent of the target assigned by the National Assembly and 29.6 percent of the plan approved by the Prime Minister. 

Deputy PM Hue, who is head of the Government’s working group instructing the acceleration of disbursement of public investment capital, asked the MPI to report on the causes of the delayed allocation of capital to the national target programme on climate change response and green growth. He noted that the PM had approved the investment portfolio for the programme in May. 

He also requested the ministry to make a list of ministries, agencies and localities which wrongly allocated the public investment. 

The Deputy PM said the MPI must submit to the Prime Minister the plans on allocating the remaining State budget-sourced investment capital and Government bonds no later than July 30.