Nghe An's foreign loan disbursement rate is among the top in the country.

On the morning of June 14, under the chairmanship of Permanent Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha, the Ministry of Finance held an online conference with localities on the implementation of disbursement of ODA programs and projects and foreign preferential loans.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired at Nghe An bridge.

Disbursement rate is very low

The Ministry of Finance's report shows: In 2021To beIn the first year of implementing medium and long-term public investment capital, the disbursement of localities encountered many difficulties, much lower than the disbursement rate in the same period in 2020. Many localities had a disbursement rate of zero.

As of May 31, the disbursed capital was VND1,100.66 billion, equivalent to 1.73% of the estimate. Only 15/63 localities had a disbursement rate of over 3%, namely Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Vinh Phuc, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Dak Lak, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, Bac Lieu. And up to 37 localities had a disbursement rate of 0%.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh chaired an online conference with localities on the implementation of disbursement of ODA programs and projects and foreign preferential loans at Nghe An. Photo: Thu Huyen

Based on the opinions of the localities, the leaders of the Ministry of Finance had specific opinions on each specific issue of each locality...

Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha said: In the first 5 months of 2021, the disbursement rate of foreign investment capital was very low. The delay may be due to objective reasons such as the Covid-19 pandemic or subjective reasons, but the most important solution is still to enhance the role of investors and project management boards.

Delegates follow the conference at Nghe An bridgehead. Photo: Thu Huyen

The Ministry of Finance also requested project owners and project management boards to have completed construction investment volume and payment conditions to submit capital withdrawal applications to donors to disburse according to regulations... but the disbursement of public investment capital from foreign sources is still slow.

For localities, it is necessary to review the reallocation of budget estimates in accordance with the progress of projects; Prioritize the arrangement of the remaining capital in accordance with the financial mechanism of projects being deployed and implemented in the localities. At the same time, coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to speed up the progress of adjusting investment policies and adjusting loan agreements, not allowing the adjustment to affect the progress of implementation and disbursement of projects...

Nghe An disbursement is among the good ones, reaching 8.5%.

In Nghe An, as of May 31, 2021, the total foreign capital planned for 2021 has been disbursed: 52 billion 275 million VND/plan assigned 616 billion 350 million VND, reaching 8.5% of the plan (the average disbursement rate nationwide is 2.97%).

If calculated by the volume of projects implemented by May 31, 2021, it is 149.71 billion VND, reaching 24.29% compared to the assigned capital plan (of which 97.435 billion VND has not been disbursed and is currently undergoing acceptance procedures for disbursement payment, of which 18.1 billion VND has completed expenditure control at the State Treasury).

The reason is that the procedures for ODA capital programs and projects have to go through many steps, leading to a longer time for contractor selection and a delay in awarding contracts compared to domestic projects of at least 6 months, thus affecting progress. Therefore, the disbursement volume is often concentrated in the last 6 months of the year.

Gang Bridge connecting Nghia Hung commune with Nghia Hieu commune (Nghia Dan) was newly invested from LRAM project capital. Photo: Thu Huyen

In addition, the complicated developments of the epidemic in the first months of the year affected the construction progress and site clearance of a number of projects, causing delays in disbursement. The sudden increase in material prices, especially construction steel, also affected the mobilization of resources and construction progress of contractors.

Reporting at the conference, Nghe An proposedMinistry of FinanceSupport and facilitate investors and project management boards to speed up the progress and procedures for appraising and approving capital withdrawal applications. Provide opinions to donors on shortening the time and speeding up the review and commenting process on bidding, resettlement compensation, and safety policies according to donor regulations for the project. Research to shorten the time for inspection and auditing of projects so that investors and project management boards can focus maximum human resources on the implementation and disbursement of programs and projects...