Thus, compared to the disbursement rate in the first 3 months of the year (January reached 1.26%; February reached 5.43%, in March 9.72%of the Prime Minister's plan), the disbursement progress in April began to accelerate, catching up with the same period last year.
However, there are still 9 ministries, branches and localities that have not disbursed (Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences, ...); 15 ministries and branches disbursed less than 5% (such as the Ministry of Science and Technology; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Hanoi National University; Ho Chi Minh National University...) and 12 localities disbursed less than 10% (such as Khanh Hoa; Cao Bang; Binh Duong; Dong Nai; An Giang; Soc Trang; Quang Tri...).
Facing the slow disbursement of public investment capital, the Ministry of Finance has proposed a series of key solutions to remove congestion both in institutions and enforcement. In particular, continue to review, amend and supplement the provisions of the Law on Public Investment, the State Budget Law and related documents to complete the legal system of public investment. The objective is to simplify the process, shorten procedures, ensure synchronization and unity between laws and by -law documents. At the same time, developing a flexible mechanism to adjust public investment plans in the year, allowing early transfer of capital from projects that are not capable of disbursing to projects with good progress, meeting eligibility.
One of the notable new points is the proposal to allow advance payment for volume that has not completed investment procedures in some specific cases such as: Investment preparation tasks, planning, compensation costs for site clearance, costs to support people's lives to stabilize... These advances will be settled after completing investment procedures according to regulations, to avoid capital congestion in the first stages of implementation.
The Ministry also recommended promoting decentralization and delegation of authority to ministries, branches and localities in making, appraising, deciding on investment, adjusting capital plans... while tightening supervision, inspection, examination and handling of violations in the process of implementing public investment.
5 solutions to promote public investment disbursement
According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, CEO of the Faculty of Finance - Banking (Nguyen Trai University), public investment is identified as one of the most important driving forces to promote total demand, create jobs, lead the private sector and form an infrastructure foundation for long-term growth.
According to Mr. Huy, to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital in the coming time, it is necessary to focus on 5 key orientations: First, it is necessary to streamline and flexible the procedures. In particular, it is necessary to promote administrative reform, apply information technology in dossier approval, bidding, and supervision. At the same time, decentralization is stronger and clearer for localities and investors, ensuring "right goes hand in hand with responsibility".
Second, it is necessary to improve the quality of investment preparation work, requiring the project to fully complete planning, site clearance, and legal procedures before allocating capital. Forming a process of "preparing early - investing in advance" instead of "working while perfecting".
Third is to prioritize projects with the ability to disburse quickly and effectively. Proactively transfer capital flexibly between projects, fields, and localities according to actual absorption capacity. In addition, encourage the selection of contractors and consultants with capacity and experience, limiting the situation of stagnation due to subjectivity.
Fourth, establish a mechanism for active monitoring and early warning. Deploy an online disbursement progress monitoring system to promptly identify bottlenecks and support them from the start.
Finally, it is necessary to strengthen close coordination between central and local ministries, branches in resolving problems related to site clearance, land procedures, project adjustment, in the main spirit of: Flexible, proactive, transparent and decisive but always ensuring reasonableness and harmony in implementation.
Mr. Huy said that for projects with slow disbursement and failure to ensure progress, there should be appropriate handling plans.
"It is necessary to encourage investors to proactively review and propose solutions. With projects facing objective difficulties, it is necessary to flexibly adjust capital plans and progress accordingly. Projects are slow to progress, after support but do not improve, capital can be transferred to more feasible projects. The handling spirit is to provide maximum support to promote progress, but resolutely adjust resources when needed, ensuring the harmony of overall benefits" - Mr. Huy said. Binh Nguyen
