According to the Ministry of Finance, as of May 14, 2026, disbursement of public investment capital reached 166,018 billion VND, equivalent to 16.4% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Compared to mid-April, disbursed capital has increased by more than 42,000 billion VND. In the week of May 8-14 alone, disbursement generated more than 12,105 billion VND, 1.3 times higher than the previous week. This is considered a sign that real movement is beginning to be created at construction sites, projects and localities.
According to the Ministry of Finance, although the disbursement progress of public investment capital is showing clearer signs of improvement after drastic directions from the Government, the general level has not yet met expectations.
The main bottleneck is in the implementation stage.
Explaining the reason for the slow disbursement progress, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Quoc Phuong said that some units were assigned large capital plans but low implementation capacity directly affected the overall results.
Besides objective factors such as fluctuations in construction material prices, policy changes, difficulties in site clearance or unfavorable weather conditions, subjective causes are still dominant factors.
The quality of planning in many places is not high, capital allocation is still spread out; some projects have not fully completed investment procedures but are still allocated capital, so they cannot be disbursed immediately. Compensation and site clearance work between localities is also not uniform, while the coordination between relevant agencies is still not close.
In addition, the implementation capacity of some investors and project management boards is still limited. The shortage of construction material supply is happening in the context of a series of large projects being implemented simultaneously, which is also putting pressure on the construction progress.
The Deputy Minister also emphasized that the system of mechanisms, policies and laws related to public investment has never been completed in a favorable direction as it is now. Although it cannot be considered absolutely optimal, the current legal framework has created quite favorable conditions for project implementation.
That also means that if the disbursement progress is still slow, the main bottleneck will no longer lie in the mechanism but in the implementation organization stage, in the spirit of responsibility and coordination capacity of each level and each sector. This is an issue that forces units to look straight to have remedial measures if they want to complete the target of disbursing 100% of the capital plan this year.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has proposed that ministries, branches, and localities urgently accelerate the detailed allocation of capital plans.
Expecting to create a spillover effect for businesses and growth
According to the assessment of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien - former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, the focus of public investment capital this year is strongly oriented towards large-scale infrastructure projects. This is not only a solution to promote general demand in the short term but also opens up a new development space for the domestic business sector.
Mr. Thien believes that focusing resources on key projects will create conditions for Vietnamese corporations and businesses to participate more deeply in the value chain of construction, materials, logistics, finance and supporting services. When domestic businesses have the opportunity to accumulate capacity through large projects, the economy will form a positive spillover effect both with the capital market and long-term competitiveness.
More importantly, public investment in the current context is not only meaningful for disbursement to complete the plan, but also a key regulatory tool to keep large cash flows "stay" in the Vietnamese business sector, instead of letting resources be drawn into defensive investment channels such as gold or foreign currencies.
However, this expert also noted that public investment can only fully promote its leading role if it is accompanied by stable monetary policy, reasonable interest rate levels and good forecasting capabilities. When capital costs are at an acceptable level, private enterprises are willing to expand investment, participate in supply chains and satellite projects activated from public investment.
