On November 18, continuing the 10th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Debt Management.
Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang explained and accepted the opinions of National Assembly deputies.
According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the pillars of reform in the coming period have all been reflected in the Law. In particular, supplementing and amending regulations to implement decentralization and delegation of authority for the approval process of loan and repayment plans, foreign loan and repayment activities.
Along with that, adjust the Government's regulations on mobilizing and using foreign loans to speed up the implementation of projects using foreign loans. Complete the mechanism to unblock new capital attraction channels. Meeting a huge capital demand for growth investment in the new period.
Explaining the issue that many delegates are interested in is the implementation of extended ODA loan projects, Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that this is also a personal issue that the Minister as well as the Ministry of Finance and the Government are very concerned about.
According to the Minister, he personally, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued many instructions and this amendment to the Law is also a step to perfect the institution to remove them.
Regarding the cause, according to the Minister, it is due to both sides. Previous domestic regulations were cumbersome and multi-layered, while the sponsors' requirements had major differences with domestic policies, such as compensation for site clearance.
The Minister cited information from the World Bank and said that on average, countries only take 12-15 months to make a loan, while Vietnam may take several years.
From this reality, Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that he has directly directed the revisions and submission to competent authorities to adjust regulations, to ensure that an ODA loan from Vietnam only takes 12-15 months.
This is a great effort of the Government and the Ministry of Finance to ensure that in the coming time, ODA loans will change, the Minister emphasized.
The Minister added that, in addition to institutions, the major difficulty lies in the implementation organization stage at the local level - especially site clearance, causing many projects to not be disbursed on time and have to have their capital revoked.
"Many projects have money but cannot be disbursed. The reason is that the site cannot be cleared. Many places want to disburse but do not have time. Investors and sponsors must withdraw, this is a regrettable problem" - the Minister said.
Minister Nguyen Van Thang also said that an important condition is that all ODA projects must ensure financial efficiency.
Only when we ensure financial efficiency can we not worry about inflation or the burden of national debt. This is a prerequisite when considering borrowing, not that we borrow at all costs. borrowing any benefits is good, but financial benefits must be guaranteed - the Minister of Finance stated his opinion.
According to the program, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Debt Management will be approved by the National Assembly on the morning of December 11, 2025.
