Over VND62,000 billion in public investment capital is waiting to be allocated
According to information from the Ministry of Finance, the total public investment capital plan for 2025, including the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, the increased local budget balance capital and the plan for previous years is VND 888,087 billion.
By the end of March 15, 2025, the total capital allocated capital was VND 814,623 billion, reaching 98.6% of the Prime Minister's capital plan of VND 825,922 billion. In particular, the central budget capital is 324,740 billion dong, including 301,561 billion dong in the country and 23,179 billion dong of foreign capital; Local budget capital is 489,883 billion. If not counting the local budget balanced capital assigned by localities, the total allocated capital is 763,907 billion dong, reaching 92.5% of the Prime Minister's plan.
During the allocation process, ministries, central and local agencies have prioritized the allocation of 141,000 billion VND for important national projects, expressway projects, inter-regional projects, coastal roads and other key projects.
However, there are still 21/47 ministries, central agencies and 35/63 localities that have not allocated or have not yet exhausted the capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister. The total capital not yet allocated in detail is VND 62,015 billion, accounting for 7.5% of the plan, of which the central budget is VND 25,455 billion and the local budget balance capital is VND 36,560 billion.
Regarding the disbursement of public investment capital, it is estimated that by March 31, 2025, the disbursement rate of public investment capital will reach 9.5% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, 12.3% lower than the same period in 2024.
In the first 3 months of the year, 13/47 ministries, central agencies and 36/63 localities had disbursement rates above the national average compared to the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.
Some units with a high disbursement rate of over 20% include: Voice of Vietnam reached 73.8%; Bank for Social Policies 41.2%; Ministry of Public Security 23.7%; Vietnam Women's Union 20.4%; Phu Tho 35%; Bac Kan 28.9%; Tuyen Quang 28.1%; Ha Nam 25.6%; Lao Cai 22.9%; Ha Giang 21.8%; Binh Dinh 20.3%.
Some difficulties affecting disbursement progress
The Ministry of Finance said that many ministries, central and local agencies have not yet disbursed in the first quarter such as the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.
In addition, 16 ministries, central agencies and 6 localities have disbursed less than 5%, including: Ministry of Health, Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Hanoi, Binh Phuoc, Ca Mau, Quang Ninh...
According to the representative of the Department of Investment (Ministry of Finance), there are three main reasons for the slow disbursement. First of all, there are limitations in mechanisms and policies - especially inappropriate regulations in the Law on Public Investment and the Law on State Budget. The Ministry of Finance is reviewing and submitting to competent authorities to remove difficulties, simplify procedures, and facilitate practical implementation.
The second reason comes from problems in the implementation process. Currently, to effectively use state budget, avoid waste, and suit the needs after the restructuring and streamlining of the apparatus, some units have to temporarily suspend the groundbreaking in 2025 for construction investment projects using public investment capital (including projects with local support capital) until a decision is made to reorganize the apparatus.
Some projects in the investment preparation stage have to be adjusted due to the implementation of the reorganization project, leading to not meeting the conditions for capital allocation.
The third reason is related to capital allocation. The failure to allocate a relatively large amount of capital has affected the disbursement rate in the first months of 2025. As of March 15, 2025, there are still about VND 62,015 billion unallocated, accounting for 7.5% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Of which, most of the capital planned to be allocated to projects is completing investment procedures.
Some ministries and central agencies have allocated capital for projects that do not meet the conditions such as: No investment decision, not approved investment preparation estimates, allocation exceeding the total investment, exceeding the capital allocation time, exceeding the medium-term plan... The Ministry of Finance has issued inspection documents, requesting adjustment and completion.
