Hanoi is determined to push the disbursement rate of public funds at over 95% by year-end, for which leaders in each agency or district are responsible for the performance of the public investment.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Chu Ngoc Anh. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh made the statement at the city’s meeting on solutions to accelerate public investment on October 12, given the city’s disbursed amount as of October 11 of  VND15.7 trillion (US$670 million) or 37.8% of the target set by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. 

“The pressure is huge, and with only a few months to go before the year-end, every departments and district have to utilize the remaining period with the highest determination and efforts to realize the public investment targets,” Anh stressed.

According to Anh, Hanoi’s authorities have been working with project owners and contractors to speed up the construction progress and address their concerns.

A report from the municipal Department of Planning and Investment revealed several districts have high disbursement rates such as Thanh Tri (100%), Dong Da (93%), Dan Phuong (82.5%), while there remained seven districts with the rate below 10% including  Nam Tu Liem (0%), Ba Dinh (0%), Hoang Mai (0%), Ung Hoa (0.4%), Son Tay (3.3%), My Duc (3.9%), and Thach That (4.7%).

Director of the Planning and Investment Department Do Anh Tuan noted the Covid-19 outbreak, especially the last one, was a key factor slowing down the disbursement rate.

“The execution of the majority of projects was halted for the past three months,” Tuan said, noting difficulties in site clearance and resettlement of affected households are major reasons.

On this issue, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Duong Duc Tuan requested local agencies to summarize all issues, for the city to hold meetings and discuss their specific solutions.

As Hanoi’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth expanded at only 1.28% year-on-year in the first nine months, mayor Chu Ngoc Anh noted the remainder of the year remains significant for Hanoi to realize the growth target of around 4.5-5%.

“In this regard, a higher disbursement rate is a key solution for the city to push for development goals,” he said.

Anh called for greater responsibilities from the entire political system to speed up the construction progress, while requesting local agencies to cooperate with contractors to provide timely support if necessary.

This year, the Government allocates nearly VND500 trillion ($22 billion) for public investment, but the disbursement rate to date was estimated at 47.38%.

A report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment revealed only four ministries from a total of 50 ministries and ministerial-level agencies and 11 out of 63 provinces/cities having the disbursement rate of over 60%; 46 agencies and 52 provinces/cities reported a rate below 60%.

Meanwhile, 15 agencies and 23 provinces have returned funds with a total of VND22 trillion ($966.5 million).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested all provinces/cities and agencies to push for an overall disbursement rate of over 95% to support the country’s economic recovery process in the last months of the year and take the GDP growth in 2021 to around 5%.