Disbursement of new ODA capital reached more than 18%

(Dan Tri) - As of October 14, ODA capital disbursement has only reached more than 18% of the yearly plan. Leaders of the Ministry of Finance requested localities and ministries to speed up progress and remove obstacles to achieve the set target.

At the conference on the disbursement of public investment from foreign capital sources and measures to increase disbursement in the last months of the year on the afternoon of October 15, Mr. Tran Quoc Phuong - Deputy Minister of Finance - assessed that since the beginning of the year, the results of public investment disbursement have changed positively, but have not yet met the set requirements.

"The Government and the Prime Minister have issued a series of resolutions, dispatches and directives to remove difficulties, but implementation progress is still slow," said the Deputy Minister.

According to the report, as of October 14, the disbursement rate of public investment from foreign capital sources (ODA capital) of ministries, branches and localities reached 18.68% of the plan. Of which, 5 ministries, branches and localities have not disbursed this year, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, Hung Yen and Lai Chau provinces.

At the conference, a representative of the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee said that the 2025 public investment plan was assigned more than VND52.5 billion, of which more than VND11.1 billion was for grassroots health development. To date, the province has disbursed more than VND5 billion and is expected to complete the disbursement before November 10. Regarding capital transferred from 2024 to this year (VND36.4 billion), Dong Nai has disbursed VND33.9 billion and will complete it before November 10.

"There are currently more than 41.4 billion VND in the Irrigation Modernization Project to Adapt to Climate Change that cannot be implemented because the agreement has not been signed. The province has proposed to reduce the capital if the agreement has not been signed and affirmed that foreign capital is no longer stuck in disbursement," said a provincial representative.

Mr. Le Trung Hieu - Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Finance - said that Hanoi was assigned this year's foreign capital plan for 5 projects with a total ODA capital of 2,489 billion VND. By the end of September, Hanoi had disbursed 822 billion VND, reaching 33.02% of the yearly plan.

Mr. Le Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Finance, spoke at the conference (Photo: Ministry of Finance).

According to him, one of the projects with slow progress is the urban railway line No. 3.1, Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station section, due to prolonged problems with site clearance and cost overruns, causing some contractors to file complaints to the Singapore International Arbitration. In addition, the contract for supplying underground equipment has not yet completed negotiations, affecting implementation and disbursement.

Regarding the urban railway project line 2.1, Nam Thang Long - Tran Hung Dao section, Mr. Hieu said that it is expected that the loan agreement can only be signed in January 2027, which means it cannot be implemented soon.

The leader of the Hanoi Department of Finance added that, in addition, the scarcity of materials and large price fluctuations (1.5-2 times higher than the estimate) also caused difficulties in bidding. Particularly for the Yen Xa wastewater treatment project, although the progress was guaranteed, the city still had to advance budget capital because the ODA source had not been disbursed in time.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong assessed that in addition to traditional problems in administrative procedures and document approval, the rearrangement of administrative units and the implementation of the 2-level local government model are no longer the most worrying causes.

"Although there is a certain impact, activities are now stable and do not greatly affect progress," said Mr. Phuong.

Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong speaks at the conference (Photo: Ministry of Finance).

There are still some problems with domestic procedures, especially those under the authority of ministries, branches and localities such as bidding, project approval, investment plan adjustment... The Deputy Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to coordinate closely and handle them quickly to ensure progress.

In addition, procedures related to signing agreements and adjusting ODA capital plans need to be resolved promptly. The Deputy Minister also noted that units need to be careful in planning and only accept estimates that are suitable to actual implementation capacity.

Regarding procedures with foreign donors, the Ministry of Finance has proposed simplifying the process. If the procedures are too complicated, it will be difficult to implement, but currently some donors such as ADB have taken positive steps in this regard.

According to Mr. Phuong, from now until the end of the year, localities need to accelerate disbursement and should not wait for new policies. For next year's capital plan, it is necessary to carefully review and register according to actual capacity to avoid capital reduction or failure to disburse.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/giai-ngan-von-oda-moi-dat-hon-18-20251015192047651.htm