'Impatient' with ODA disbursement and public investment

Photo caption — Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Quoc Phuong delivered the opening speech at the Conference. Photo: Duc Minh

The new disbursement rate reached 18.68%, much lower than the same period.

At the Conference with ministries, branches and localities on disbursement of public investment from foreign capital sources in 2025 held on the afternoon of October 15, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Quoc Phuong said that public investment from foreign capital sources (ODA capital) accounts for a significant proportion of the total public investment sources of the whole country.

Therefore, accelerating the disbursement of this capital source is not only an urgent requirement to promote growth but also a key task to ensure effective use of loan capital and maintain national prestige with international partners.

Deputy Director of the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Economic Relations (Ministry of Finance) Vu Hoang Nam said that as of October 14, the total foreign capital plan for 2025 assigned by the Prime Minister was more than VND23,416 billion, of which ministries and branches were assigned VND11,060 billion and localities were assigned VND12,356 billion. In addition, 15 ministries, branches and localities were assigned an extended capital plan for 2024 worth VND2,178,051 billion, of which ministries and branches were VND1,653,303 billion and localities were VND524,748 billion.

According to data on the Tabmis system, as of October 14, the rate of entering detailed estimates on Tabmis by project compared to the assigned foreign capital plan of ministries, branches and localities reached 85.63%, of which ministries and branches reached 78.35%, and localities reached 92.14%.

Some units such as the Ministry of Health , the Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi National University... have allocated 100% of the capital plan, while some localities such as Lai Chau and Dong Nai have not yet implemented it. Although quite drastic, as of October 14, the disbursement rate of foreign capital public investment of ministries, branches and localities has only reached 18.68%. There are 5 ministries, branches and localities that have not yet disbursed the foreign capital public investment plan for 2025 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the provinces of Lai Chau, Hung Yen, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh).

“It is estimated that by the end of October 2025, the disbursement rate of public investment from foreign capital sources will reach about 20% of the assigned capital plan, lower than the same period in 2022, 2023 and 2024, equivalent to the disbursement rate in 2021. The disbursement rate increases month by month, but mainly increases in the third quarter of 2025,” said Mr. Vu Hoang Nam.

This disbursement rate is much lower than the target of disbursing 100% of the capital plan as directed by the Government in Resolution No. 273/NQ-CP, requiring ministries, branches, localities and project owners to implement more drastic measures to complete the disbursement task.

Shorten file processing time, thoroughly handle long-standing problems

Faced with this situation, the representative of the Ministry of Finance recommended that the Government, ministries, branches and localities urgently and synchronously implement solutions to remove obstacles and speed up the disbursement of public investment capital, especially ODA capital and foreign preferential loans.

Recently, the Ministry of Finance has synchronously deployed many measures to promote disbursement progress, issued a series of official dispatches and telegrams urging ministries, branches and localities to urgently allocate, enter budget estimates and disburse capital.

According to Mr. Vu Hoang Nam, since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Finance has received 557 sets of documents for capital withdrawal and processed 549 sets of documents, and has sent official dispatches requesting clarification and additional documents for 8 sets of documents (including the 2025 capital plan and the extended 2024 capital plan). In the context of merging administrative units and implementing the 2-level local government model, the Ministry of Finance has proactively guided and handled issues related to re-lending contracts, coordinated with donors to adjust foreign loan agreements, and ensured continuity in project implementation.

The Ministry of Finance also regularly works directly with ministries, localities and major donors to remove difficulties and speed up the disbursement of ODA projects and preferential loans. Regarding procedures, the Ministry has reviewed the process of handling capital withdrawal dossiers, shortening the processing time to 1 working day for valid dossiers, ensuring the progress and efficiency of public investment capital use. However, the disbursement progress of public investment capital, including ODA capital, is still slow.

At the conference on the afternoon of October 15, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong requested that units classify solutions into two groups: short-term, urgent solutions that need to be implemented immediately in the remaining two months of 2025, to speed up disbursement in the fourth quarter of 2025, and long-term, fundamental solutions, applied for the period after 2025 to thoroughly handle long-standing problems.

“We have almost reached the end of this term, but some problems still recur over the years. Next year’s goal is that we no longer have to discuss old issues, but must switch to new, more effective ways of doing things,” Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong emphasized.

To speed up disbursement in the last months of the year, the Ministry of Finance requested ministries, branches and localities to speed up investment procedures, complete project legal documents; proactively coordinate with sponsors to remove obstacles; strictly control progress, promptly report arising issues and focus on disbursing eligible projects, ensuring the completion of the disbursement target of 100% of the capital plan in 2025.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed many groups of specific solutions and recommendations to achieve the goal of disbursing 100% of the capital plan in 2025, while preparing for the new medium-term period of 2026 - 2030.

Firstly, it is recommended that the Government and the Prime Minister direct ministries, branches and localities to urgently and synchronously implement measures within their management scope; the Ministry of Finance proposes to review and allocate detailed budget estimates to each project, focusing capital on projects with good progress, near completion or needing to complete disbursement according to loan agreements; at the same time, cancel or transfer capital from slow projects that do not meet the conditions for implementation.

At the same time, it is necessary to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and donors to handle difficulties, especially in adjusting investment policies and loan agreements; and implementing a periodic reporting regime on disbursement progress. In addition, units need to promptly complete legal procedures after the merger, respond to Official Dispatch No. 12873/BTC-QLN dated August 21 so that the Ministry of Finance and donors can complete the adjustment of loan agreements, serving capital withdrawal procedures.

For project owners, it is necessary to focus on implementation, ensure actual volume for disbursement; proactively coordinate with consultants, contractors, and management agencies to promptly handle problems; promptly report to the competent authority, avoid stagnation due to waiting for opinions.

For localities with ODA projects, the Ministry of Finance requires urgent handling of compensation, site clearance, resettlement, and handover of clean sites on schedule to project owners; strengthening work with donors to resolve existing problems, speeding up negotiations, signing and taking effect of loan agreements; deploying an electronic capital withdrawal system to shorten the time for processing documents.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/sot-ruot-giai-ngan-von-oda-va-dau-tu-cong-20251015192053953.htm