Bình Khánh Bridge in HCM City, invested by ODA. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — The Government has asked gor more efforts to accelerate the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and other concessional foreign loans after spending lagged far behind schedule in the first half of the year. 

In a directive signed on May 25, the government said accelerating the disbursement and efficiency of ODA is critical as Việt Nam begins implementing its 2026-30 medium-term public investment plan, with the government seeking to sustain double-digit economic growth while improving the efficiency of public spending.

The Ministry of Finance’s statistics showed that disbursement of foreign-funded public investment had reached just 9.99 per cent of the annual plan by June 15.

Of note, several ministries and localities had failed to make any disbursement in the period, blaming delays in land clearance, procurement, repeated project design revisions and weak project management that have slowed implementation and required changes to investment approvals and loan agreements.

The Government asked ministers, agency heads and provincial leaders to treat ODA management and disbursement as a priority, holding them directly accountable for project selection, implementation and the effective use of foreign loans.

Funding should be prioritised for nationally important infrastructure projects and those with strong economic spillover effects, while rejecting proposals for projects deemed unnecessary, financially unviable or lacking clear funding sources.

Efforts must be hastened to complete investment procedures, ensure adequate counterpart funding, resolve administrative bottlenecks promptly and reallocate capital from slow-moving projects to those capable of faster disbursement.

The Ministry of Finance has been tasked with working with international development partners to simplify and shorten loan disbursement procedures while closely monitoring project implementation and recommending corrective measures for delayed projects. — VNS