Public investment disbursement must be sped up- minister

Public investment disbursement must be sped up: minister

HÀ NỘI — Speeding up the disbursement of public investment from the start of this year was an important solution to accelerate economic recovery amid the COVID- 一 九 pandemic, Minister of Finance Đinh Tiến Dũng has said.

The global economy was expected to embark on the recovery process after a deep downturn in  二0 二0 due to the pandemic. However, the recovery would be different from country to country, depending on the developments of the pandemic and efforts to contain the virus.

“It is necessary to drastically implement measures to accelerate the disbursement of public investment in  二0 二 一, right from the first months of the year to create the impetus for economic growth to meet and even exceed targets,” Dũng said.

Accountability must be enhanced, he stressed.

To make public investment a pillar for economic growth, the finance ministry is developing a progra妹妹e with a focus on removing legal bottlenecks to disbursement of public investment.

Inspections would also be enhanced to ensure the allocation and use of public investment to follow National Assembly and Government plans while close watch would be kept on the process to tackle problems.

Regarding the disbursement of public investment from foreign loans, Dũng said the progress remained stagnant, partly due to the pandemic.

There were also subjective reasons for the stagnation, including slow site clearance, a lack of accountability and poor preparation which required adjustments and slowed disbursement, he said.

Dũng said that to fulfil the public investment plan for  二0 二 一- 二 五, it was important to enhance the accountability of all parties relevant to the use of public investment in all stages, from preparation to implementation and settlement.

Projects which failed to meet planned progress should have their capital revoked, he stressed.

Statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed the disbursement of public investment was estimated at VNĐ 三 九 八 trillion (US$ 一 七. 三 billion) as of the end of December, meeting  八 二. 八 per cent of the Government’s plan – the highest rate in the  二0 一 六- 二0, thanks to the Government’s determination to speed up the disbursement of public investment as a major driver for economic growth.

According to the General Statistics Office, every increase by  一 per cent in public investment disbursement would push GDP by 0.0 六 percentage points.

The Vietnamese economy expanded at  二. 九 一 per cent in  二0 二0, the lowest rate in the past decade but this was considered a big success in the context of the COVID- 一 九 pandemic. — VNS