A publically-invested road project in Hải Dương Province's Kim Thành District. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng asked relevant ministries and localities to drastically implement solutions to speed up public investment disbursement to achieve the target of 95 per cent of the public investment disbursement in 2024. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Tú

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued an official dispatch, urging organisations to push ahead with the disbursement of public funds, as figures show progress is still slow in a number of ministries and localities.

By the end of May, the public investment disbursement was estimated to be at VNĐ148 billion (US$5.8 million), or just 22.34 per cent of the Prime Minister’s plan.

However, 33 ministries, central-level agencies and 29 localities still have disbursement rates lower than the country average.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng asked relevant ministries and localities to drastically speed up the process to reach the target of realising 95 per cent of the public investment levels being allocated in 2024.

Dũng urged steering committees and working groups to remove difficulties and roadblocks currently hampering the disbursement process. Disbursement plans should be developed monthly and quarterly together with enhanced accountability, he said.

The focus should also be on removing difficulties related to the supply of building materials to meet the demand of publically-invested projects.

Each and every project should be evaluated for proper adjustment of capital and if projects are stagnant, funds need to be transferred to other more dynamic ventures.

Another key point within the official dispatch was to stress better coordination between relevant organisations to speed up the process of receiving, negotiating, signing and ratifying official development assistance (ODA) loans.

Supervision should be enhanced to ensure efficiency of ODA-funded projects. — VNS