The Ministry of Finance has just proposed several specific solutions aimed at resolving bottlenecks and accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital, especially ODA and foreign concessional loans.
Five Key Solution Groups to Boost 2025 Disbursement:
1. General Direction from the Government: The Government and the Prime Minister are requested to direct ministries, sectors, and localities to strengthen coordination, remove obstacles, and ensure disbursement progress in line with Resolution No. 273/NQ-CP.
2. Responsibility of Project Managing Agencies:
o Review and allocate detailed estimates, prioritizing capital for projects with good progress, those nearing completion, or those that need to finalize disbursement according to the loan agreement.
o Cancel or reallocate capital from slow-moving projects that are not eligible for implementation.
o Closely coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and donors to resolve issues related to adjusting investment policies and loan agreements.
o Promptly complete legal procedures after mergers to facilitate capital withdrawal.
3. Responsibility of Project Owners:
o Focus on implementation to ensure actual completed volume for disbursement.
o Proactively coordinate with consultants, contractors, and management agencies to immediately resolve difficulties, avoiding delays caused by waiting for opinions.
4. Responsibility of Localities (for ODA projects): Urgently handle compensation, site clearance, and resettlement work, and hand over clear sites to project owners on schedule.
5. Role of the Ministry of Finance:
o Continue to monitor and report to the National Steering Committee on ODA and Concessional Loans, and propose flexible operational solutions to the Prime Minister.
o Review and deal with delayed projects; consider cutting or not allocating capital plans for the following year if improvements are not made.
o Intensify work with donors, accelerate negotiations, signing, and effectiveness of loan agreements.
o Deploy an electronic withdrawal system to shorten processing time for documents.
Launching the New 2026-2030 Medium-Term Public Investment Phase:
Emphasizing 2026 as the pivotal year for the new 2026-2030 medium-term public investment plan, the Ministry of Finance requires managing agencies and project owners, when developing the 2026 capital plan, to:
• Closely base planning on implementation capacity.
• Prioritize capital allocation for projects to be completed within the year, transitional projects, urgent projects, and those with efficiency and quick disbursement potential.
• For foreign capital: Base planning closely on the loan agreement and commitments with donors, ensuring sufficient capital for projects whose agreements conclude in 2026 and have no possibility of extension.
For its part, the Ministry of Finance will continue to research and improve mechanisms and policies for managing and using ODA and concessional loans, including the amendment of the Law on Public Debt Management to shorten procedures, enhance decentralization, and simplify administration.
The Ministry of Finance emphasized that achieving the 2025 disbursement target and creating a premise for 2026 requires the synchronous and drastic engagement of the entire political system, from central to local levels, with the proactive involvement of the managing agencies.