Disbursed public investment in July increased at the highest rate in five years
Disbursed public investment in July increased at the highest rate in five years
The disbursement of public investment sourced from the State budget in July increased to its highest rate in the past four years. 
The money came as Viet Nam hurried up public investment disbursement as one of major drivers to get the economy back on its feet after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Latest updates from the finance ministry showed that the State budget sourced public investment disbursement was estimated at total VND45.7 trillion (US$1.97 billion) in July, representing a rise of 51.8 per cent against the same period last year.
This year the disbursement of public investment totalled VND203 trillion, equivalent to 42.7 per cent of the plan for the full year and up by 27.2 per cent over the same period in 2019.
Ministries with good growth in disbursing public investment were the Ministry of Transport, VND8.34 trillion, equivalent to 41.6 per cent of the plan for the full year and up 91.7 per cent against the same period last year. The Ministry of Health disbursed a sum worth VND2.3 trillion, 34.7 per cent of the target and up 36.1 per cent while the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development saw VND1.76 trillion in disbursed capital, 39.6 per cent and 34.1 per cent, respectively.
Ha Noi saw disbursed investment capital worth more than VND22 trillion, or 48.6 per cent of the plan for the full year, HCM City VND17 trillion, 35.8 per cent and Quang Ninh VND8.46 trillion, 60.9 per cent.
The Vietnamese Government targeted to disburse all public investment planned for this year as well as the public investment sums transferred from previous years in an effort to accelerate post-pandemic economic recovery.
This means that about VND630trillion must be disbursed this year.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance from the beginning of August to transfer public capital from ministries and localities which failed to make disbursement to projects which could spend the money.
The finance ministry’s report showed that about VND160 trillion was disbursed in the first half of this year.
Transport ministry gears up
At a meeting with the Ministry of Transport on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung urged the transport sector to speed up the implementation of major projects and public investment disbursement.
Dung said the transport ministry and other relevant ministries, agencies and localities needed to effectively implement the site clearance work for the North-South Expressway and Long Thanh International Airport projects, among others.
Joint efforts were also needed to remove bottlenecks regarding institutions, mechanisms, policies and regulations on compensation and resettlement, Deputy PM said.
Dung pointed to the huge tasks ahead for the sector, especially in transport infrastructure development, helping to raise national competitiveness and create a stable environment for developing the national transport system.
To prepare for transport infrastructure development during the 2021-25 period, the ministry should forecast capital demands for major projects in order to put forth resources and allocate plans, he requested.
The transport ministry reported that as of the end of June, it had disbursed a total of VND13.38 trillion of public investment, fulfilling 33.7 per cent of the yearly target and higher than the national average of 28.9 per cent.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong said issues related to site clearance must be tackled so that the disbursement of public investment could be sped up.
