 |
| Public investment has been identified as a key driver for achieving double-digit growth targets. Photo: Duc Thanh |
Rapid allocation and disbursement.
May 10th is the deadline for ministries, sectors, and localities to complete the detailed allocation of public investment capital for the 2026 plan, according to a recent directive from Prime Minister Le Minh Hung. The specific situation will be reported to the Government soon, because according to the directive, by May 10th, if any ministry, sector, or locality has not yet allocated all its capital, they must report the reasons and the collective and individual responsibilities to the Ministry of Finance before May 15th, 2026, for compilation and to propose to the competent authority for handling the unallocated capital as prescribed.
By the end of April 2026, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, over VND 46,218.5 billion from 14 ministries and central agencies and 17 localities (accounting for 4.56% of the capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister ) had yet to be allocated in detail. This puts pressure on achieving the target of 100% disbursement of public investment capital this year.
Data from the Ministry of Finance shows that, as of April 30, 2026, disbursement of public investment capital reached approximately VND 144,283 billion, achieving 14.2% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Compared to the same period in 2025, the disbursement increased by VND 12,615.7 billion in absolute terms, but the percentage was 1.7 percentage points lower. The main reasons cited are the very large capital plan for 2026 (22.7% higher than the capital plan for 2025), and the extended holiday period at the end of April, which temporarily slowed down the construction progress and capital disbursement of projects.
The disbursement of public investment funds has not met expectations, causing concern for the Prime Minister. At the end of April 2026, the Prime Minister chaired a national conference on accelerating the allocation and disbursement of public investment funds in 2026. Severely criticizing 28 ministries and agencies and 18 localities with disbursement rates below the national average, the Prime Minister demanded that public investment discipline be maintained, the role of heads of agencies be further emphasized, and stressed that all investment decisions and fund allocations must be accounted for and evaluated for effectiveness.
The Prime Minister also emphasized that the Government considers public investment a very important political task for 2026 and the entire term; a tool for macroeconomic management; and an important driving force to achieve double-digit growth targets…
Following the conference, the disbursement of public investment capital has improved. However, as of the end of April 2026, 27 ministries and agencies and 18 localities still had disbursement rates below the national average. Furthermore, some ministries and agencies even had disbursement rates below 1% or had not disbursed any funds at all. This is not a new story; it has been repeated for many years. Under the same legal framework, some ministries, agencies, and localities disburse funds well, while others disburse them slowly.
"Slow disbursement and incomplete disbursement of funds have become a long-standing problem; strong measures must be taken to address these shortcomings and limitations," the Prime Minister instructed.
Even considering only the capital already allocated by the Prime Minister, nearly 870,000 billion VND still needs to be injected into the economy in the coming period. This is a very large resource, and without concerted effort, it will be difficult to achieve the target of disbursing 100% of public investment capital to boost the economy to double-digit growth this year.
Removing bottlenecks, efforts to "spend" 1 trillion VND.
The Ministry of Finance highlighted three important "positive aspects" in the implementation of the public investment plan during the first four months of 2026 in a report submitted to the Government a few days ago. These are: the Government and the Prime Minister's direction and management of the 2026 public investment plan were implemented decisively, promptly, and continuously; and the disbursement of public investment continues to be identified as one of the key political tasks and an important driving force for growth.
In addition, ministries, central and local agencies have proactively developed plans to implement key tasks assigned by the Government, strengthening management and effectively utilizing public investment capital in accordance with regulations.
In particular, following the direction and guidance of the Government and the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance has been implementing a number of tasks to improve the quality of allocation and disbursement of public investment.
However, difficulties regarding raw materials, land clearance, construction, planning allocation and implementation of investment project procedures, and institutional and policy issues remain. To accelerate disbursement and ensure that over 1 trillion VND is spent this year, there is no other way than to gradually remove these bottlenecks. Not only ministries and agencies, but also localities must get involved.
“Ho Chi Minh City will strive to completely resolve outstanding issues, strengthen on-site inspections, remove obstacles related to land clearance, planning, bidding, and digital transformation in project progress management…”, said Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Van Duoc, at a meeting on May 6th regarding the disbursement of public investment capital in the first four months of 2026.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc stated that the city has identified accelerating the disbursement of public investment as a key task, linked to individual responsibility, in order to ensure the achievement of socio-economic development goals for 2026.
Hanoi is in a similar situation. At the recent April work review meeting and May 2026 task implementation meeting, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Luu stated that, in the context of the city aiming for double-digit growth, public investment continues to be identified as a key driving force. With this determination and significant efforts, as of May 6, 2025, Hanoi's public investment disbursement had reached over 36,200 billion VND, equivalent to 30.17% of the assigned plan.
Many other localities across the country have also made efforts to remove bottlenecks to accelerate the implementation of projects and the disbursement of public investment funds.
To accelerate economic growth, international experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) highly appreciate the Vietnamese government's allocation of significant resources to public investment in 2026, considering it a crucial driver of economic growth. However, the key issue lies in disbursing funds and improving the efficiency of public investment.
Currently, the focus is not just on accelerating disbursement or improving the efficiency of public investment in 2026, but also for the medium-term period of 2026-2030. Over this five-year period, the total public investment resources amount to 8.22 trillion VND. If disbursed on schedule and used effectively, this will be a "lever" for double-digit growth in the 2026-2030 period.
To effectively implement the Plan, the Ministry of Finance has requested ministries, sectors, and localities to urgently review and finalize the list of projects and prioritize them; and to submit reports proposing the need for central government budget allocation to the Ministry of Finance as prescribed before May 15, 2026, for compilation and submission to the Government for consideration and decision.
Proactively implement management measures to meet the planned capital needs for 2026 for ministries, central agencies, and localities; ensure priority is given to funding strategic, inter-regional infrastructure projects with high disbursement potential and strong spillover effects.
From the beginning of the year, documents were issued urging ministries, agencies, and localities to promptly input, allocate, and disburse capital plans; immediately review detailed allocation plans and adjust capital plans for 2026 of ministries, agencies, and localities to promptly approve budget estimates for eligible projects…
Directing the State Treasury to disburse funds immediately upon meeting all conditions to ensure project progress…; deploying a set of KPI indicators to monitor and evaluate the disbursement results of public investment capital by ministries, central agencies, and localities on a weekly and monthly basis as directed by the Prime Minister…
Source: https://baodautu.vn/doc-thuc-dua-1-trieu-ty-dong-vao-nen-kinh-te-d593021.html
Comment (0)