Disbursement of new capital has reached 60% of the plan.
Following the merger, Ho Chi Minh City was allocated over 120,323 billion VND by the Prime Minister , including 16,674 billion VND from the central government budget and nearly 103,649 billion VND from the local government budget. The city has completed the detailed allocation of a total of 153,615 billion VND, exceeding the amount allocated by the Prime Minister by 28%.
However, according to preliminary reports from the State Treasury Region 2, as of November 28, 2025, the disbursement of public investment capital in Ho Chi Minh City only reached VND 71,739 billion, equivalent to 59.6% of the capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister .
In its report to the City People's Council meeting, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee outlined several key reasons affecting the disbursement progress of public investment capital in 2025, especially issues related to updating and adjusting regulations in the field of public investment.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, 2025 will be the first year of application of the new regulations on public investment under Law No. 58/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly on Public Investment. However, the Government will only issue Decree No. 85/2025/ND-CP detailing the implementation of some articles of this Law in April 2025.
Meanwhile, Law No. 90/2025/QH15, which amends and supplements several articles of various laws, including the Law on Public Investment, came into effect on June 25, 2025, but the Government only issued its guiding decree (Decree 275/2025/ND-CP) on October 18. This also affects the progress of appraisal, decision-making on investment policies, adjustments to investment policies, etc., for projects and the management of public investment in the city.
On the other hand, the progress of public investment disbursement in the city is also affected by the restructuring and reorganization of administrative units at all levels and the shift to a two-tiered local government model.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, although Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Binh Duong province, and Ho Chi Minh City had proactively reorganized specialized project management boards as well as district-level regional project management boards prior to the restructuring, the principle was to maintain the status quo and mechanically merge them to minimize the impact on project management and disbursement.
However, completing the legal framework related to the project's investor entity, as well as the processes of receiving public investment plans and disbursing funds, still requires time, leading to a delay in disbursement during the first two months after the restructuring. This is also reflected in the data from July-August 2025, where the disbursement rate in the city reached less than 1% of the allocated capital.
Furthermore, while the People's Committee at the commune level is assigned as the investor for some public investment projects, the lack of a dedicated project management board leads to confusion in implementation due to a lack of clear understanding and delineation of the roles, functions, and responsibilities of the project investor, the appraisal agency, and the investment decision-making agency.
To align with the organizational structure after the restructuring and streamlining, many city projects have been temporarily suspended for review to determine the necessity of investment, adjust scale, scope, and standards, especially for projects involving headquarters and state management agencies. This has resulted in the withholding of further project funding pending the review results. Some projects, no longer needed, are proposing adjustments to reduce their planned capital to avoid waste.
Furthermore, the slow disbursement of funds is also due to project implementation issues. Some projects face difficulties in land compensation and clearance, and the relocation of electrical infrastructure, while some investors have not been sufficiently thorough in managing construction progress and have not been decisive in dealing with underperforming contractors. In particular, the unstable supply of raw materials and significant price fluctuations have also significantly impacted project progress.
Do not shy away from responsibility.
During a meeting of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council on December 10th, Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc frankly acknowledged the shortcomings related to the unsatisfactory progress of public investment disbursement; he also emphasized the city leadership's stance of not shifting blame and not avoiding responsibility in this matter.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, although the city's disbursement rate is relatively high compared to the rest of the country, it still falls short of expectations. Currently, the rate is only around 60%, while the city's goal is to reach 75% by Q3/2025 and 100% by Q4/2025.
A paradox has been pointed out: many units are allocated funds but do not spend them all; some wards/communes and departments even have to request the return of funds because they "cannot handle the project." Meanwhile, those that have prepared complete dossiers are not allocated funds. This is one of the reasons for reduced efficiency in public investment and directly impacts the progress of projects in the area.
Based on the consolidated disbursement plans of agencies, units, and investors, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City anticipates that the disbursement of public investment capital by the end of the 2025 fiscal year (January 31, 2025) will reach VND 123,027 billion, achieving 102.2% of the capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister and 80.1% of the City's capital plan.
To achieve this goal, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has directed relevant departments and localities to focus on implementing several tasks, emphasizing the completion of procedures to expedite compensation and land clearance for large-scale projects with outstanding compensation funds that still need to be disbursed by January 31, 2026.
Specifically, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on disbursing funds to six key projects, including: Component Project 1: land clearance for Ring Road 4 – Ho Chi Minh City, section from Thu Bien Bridge to Saigon River; Component Project 1: land clearance for the Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Expressway, section through Binh Duong; Component Project 6: compensation, support and resettlement for Ring Road 3 section through Binh Duong; the Dinh River embankment project from Dien Bien Phu Bridge to the Water Treatment Plant Bridge; the extension of Provincial Road 991 (from National Highway 51 to the Cai Mep - Thi Vai inter-port road); and the upgrading and expansion of the Ba Ria - Chau Pha - Hac Dich road (DT995B).
Simultaneously, Ho Chi Minh City is also accelerating the necessary procedures to commence projects such as: Component Project 1 - construction of the city's Ring Road 2, section from Phu Huu Bridge to Vo Nguyen Giap Street; Component Project 2: construction of the city's Ring Road 2, section from Vo Nguyen Giap Street to Pham Van Dong Street; the expansion project of Do Xuan Hop Street; construction of Nguyen Khoai Bridge and Road…
Drawing on lessons learned from the disbursement of public investment funds, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, requested that all departments and localities complete all investment preparation documents for important projects, especially key projects and breakthrough projects, before the end of the year. This is to ensure that funds can be allocated and projects can be implemented in the early days of 2026 to meet deadlines.
With numerous large-scale projects and key construction works entering the construction phase right from the beginning of the year, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee predict that 2026 will be a "massive construction site" for the city. If the relevant departments implement these projects decisively and synchronously, they could soon become operational, contributing to the city's economic breakthrough in the coming years.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/giai-ngan-dau-tu-cong-moi-dat-60-tp-ho-chi-minh-no-luc-but-toc-vao-cuoi-nam-20251210212444685.htm
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