Boosting the public investment growth pillar.

To achieve GDP growth exceeding 8%, public investment resources allocated for 2025 will reach nearly 875,000 billion VND. Once these substantial resources are disbursed, the pillar of public investment growth will become effective. But the crucial question is how to spend all of this money.

To achieve GDP growth exceeding 8%, public investment resources allocated for 2025 will reach nearly 875,000 billion VND. Once these substantial resources are disbursed, the pillar of public investment growth will become effective. But the crucial question is how to spend all of this money.

The Chi Lang - Huu Nghi Expressway is one of two projects that the Prime Minister inspected during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The beginning of the year is a time to worry about spending money.

The government has submitted to the National Assembly a supplementary plan for socio -economic development in 2025, aiming for a growth rate of 8% or higher. One of the key drivers of growth mentioned is public investment in 2025, projected at approximately US$36 billion (equivalent to VND 875,000 billion, about VND 84,300 billion higher than the planned target for 2025).

"The money is there, the addresses are there, this more than 84.3 trillion VND is new compared to the National Assembly's resolution on the 2025 Plan (790.7 trillion VND - PV)," Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said at the National Assembly Standing Committee meeting on the Project, adding that when public investment is about 84.3 trillion VND higher, GDP will increase by about 0.64 percentage points.

Public investment has long been considered a crucial driver of economic growth. A calculation by the General Statistics Office, often cited, shows that every 1 dong of public investment attracts 1.61 dong of non-state investment; and a 1% increase in public investment disbursement compared to the previous year boosts GDP by 0.06 percentage points.

Therefore, accelerating the disbursement of public investment is extremely important in the context of the Government's goal of boosting economic growth to over 8% in 2025, aiming for double-digit growth in the coming years.

Reviewing the Government's report, the National Assembly's Economic Committee stated that public investment is one of the pillars of growth; therefore, with such a large amount of allocated capital, specific solutions and accountability for implementation are needed to innovate public investment management.

"The government needs to ensure the disbursement of allocated and supplementary public investment capital, given that public investment disbursement has been a persistent weakness for many years, and the specific situation in 2025 is that public investment capital is allocated at a high level, with many key projects being completed or preparing for investment," said Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee.

The challenge of disbursing public investment capital in 2025 is indeed significant, due to the high capital requirements. According to the Ministry of Finance's report, despite considerable efforts, by January 31, 2025, the estimated disbursement of public investment capital reached nearly VND 635,580 billion, achieving 93.06% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister (compared to 93.12% in the same period of 2023), falling short of the planned 95%.

Notably, while disbursement for projects under the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program reached 97.38%, and domestic capital disbursement reached 94.38%, foreign capital disbursement only reached 49.55% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister; capital under the National Target Program disbursed 85.68% of the plan.

Furthermore, while 11 central ministries and agencies and 37 localities had disbursement rates above the national average (over 93.06% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister), 35 central ministries and agencies and 26 localities still had disbursement rates in 2024 below the national average (93.06%).

In other words, although public investment disbursement has improved, it still falls short of expectations and requires further efforts to "spend money," especially considering that compared to last year, this year's public investment resources are 200,000 billion VND higher.

Boosting the pillar of growth

Information indicates that efforts to disburse public investment capital have been accelerated since the beginning of the year. As of the end of January 2025, the Prime Minister had allocated nearly 830,000 billion VND of state budget investment capital to ministries, sectors, and localities. However, only over 741,000 billion VND has been allocated in detail by ministries, sectors, and localities, leaving more than 84,840 billion VND unallocated.

“Many newly launched projects have not yet completed investment procedures, so they are not yet eligible for capital allocation; some projects are awaiting adjustments and additions to the medium-term public investment plan for 2021-2025…”, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong explained why a large amount of capital has yet to be allocated in detail.

In terms of disbursing public investment funds, Ho Chi Minh City is the most concerned, due to its large investment resources. "Ho Chi Minh City will focus on disbursing public investment funds, striving to reach 95% by the end of January 2026," said Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

Furthermore, some ministries and central agencies have requested to return funds (including both domestic and foreign capital) due to a lack of need for them. Meanwhile, some new projects using ODA funds have not yet signed foreign loan agreements…

Given the current allocation of capital, the disbursement of public investment funds in January 2025 has not shown much improvement. It is estimated that by the end of the month, the disbursement of public investment funds reached over 10,382 billion VND, achieving only 1.26% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, lower than the 2.58% figure for the same period in 2024.

"In January 2025, ministries, sectors, and localities are focusing on implementing detailed capital allocation plans for projects and completing investment procedures to disburse planned capital, so the disbursement rate is low," Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong explained.

However, time waits for no one. With public investment resources projected to increase to 875,000 billion VND, there is no other option but to urgently implement and disburse funds, starting from the first months of the year.

To accelerate disbursement, during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Prime Minister inspected the construction sites of two expressway projects: Chi Lang - Huu Nghi (Lang Son) and Dong Dang (Lang Son) - Tra Linh (Cao Bang). He directed the continued resolution of difficulties and obstacles, and the handling of proposals and recommendations to expedite these two expressway projects. Prior to this, the Prime Minister also visited the construction sites of Long Thanh International Airport; Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 3; and Terminal 3 (Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City) to urge progress…

The head of government instructed the units to make every effort to accelerate progress, work in "three shifts, four teams," "overcome the sun, conquer the rain, and not be defeated by storms," ​​and "only discuss action, not retreat," all for the development of the country...

Promoting the disbursement of public investment, especially for key projects, is a way to create momentum for short-term economic growth and open up new development opportunities for regions and localities. Therefore, the Ministry of Planning and Investment believes that ministries, sectors, and localities need to decisively implement solutions to promote the disbursement of public investment capital from the beginning of the year, bringing capital into the economy as soon as possible.

Once again, the target of disbursing 95% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister has been set for 2025 - the final year of the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment period. Ministries, sectors, and localities are striving to achieve this goal.

For example, building a GRDP growth scenario of 12% for 2025, Hai Duong province is making great efforts to disburse public investment capital right from the beginning of the year. The public investment disbursement scenario has been outlined, with targets of approximately 3% in January, 8% in February, and 19% in March, avoiding the situation of "relaxed at the beginning of the year, stressed at the end," striving to achieve 99.7% of the assigned plan for the whole year.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/thuc-tru-cot-tang-truong-dau-tu-cong-d246163.html