Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed off decision No.548 to set up six task force groups specialized in urging Government agencies and localities to accelerate public investment in 2022.

Ring road No.3 in Hanoi. Photo: Hai Linh

The six task force groups comprise senior officials from ministries and agencies, with each led by the Deputy Prime Ministers  Pham Binh Minh, Le Minh Khai, Vu Duc Dam, Le Van Thanh, Minister of Planning, and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc.

The responsibilities of the task force groups are to identify bottlenecks and difficulties facing ministries, central agencies, and provinces during the implementation of public investment, especially those financed by ODA and concessional loans; propose measures to ensure greater efficiency in state capital management.

The task force groups would also assess the performance of ministries and provinces/cities in realizing the public investment plan in 2022, including the responsibilities of leaders of provinces/cities and Government agencies.

In the first four months of 2022, the disbursement of public investment funds stood at 18.48% of the Government’s target, a slight decrease compared to the same period in 2021. Of the total, the disbursed rate of domestic capital stood at 19.57%, and that of foreign sources at 3.25%.

The Government’s report noted seven ministries and eight localities posted a disbursement rate of over 25%, 43 out of 51 ministries and 28 from 63 provinces/cities have a rate of less than 17%, and 17 ministries have not disbursed the allocated fund.

Among the reasons for the slow disbursement rate, there was the lack of commitments from Government agencies, difficulties in site clearance, and a lengthy bidding process.

The Ministry of Finance proposed the Government transfer funds from localities with low disbursement rates to those with higher paces.