At a meeting on August 3 to review the city’s disbursement of public investment capital, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Tran Thi Binh Minh said more than VND 26.18 trillion (USD 1.15 billion) has been allocated from the State budget to Ho Chi Minh City so far this year.

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Workers at a construction site of metro route No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City, partly funded with ODA capital

The city disbursed VND 13.21 trillion (USD 581.1 million) as of July 31, 50 percent of the sum planned to be disbursed this year. That includes VND 722 billion (USD 31.8 million) of capital from the central budget, 22 percent of total State capital subject to disbursement.

Ho Chi Minh City also disbursed VND 2.9 trillion (USD 127.6 million) or 72 percent of Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital allocated by central agencies as of July 31. Meanwhile, local projects need about VND 7.7 trillion (USD 338.7 million) of ODA capital this year.

Minh said as the provided ODA capital has met about 50 percent of local demand, Ho Chi Minh City will struggle to soon finish many projects.

This is also a reason behind the slow payment of contracts signed with foreign partners, which could force the city to pay fines for late payment, she added.

Meanwhile, about VND 9.59 trillion (USD 421.9 million) or 51 percent of capital sourced from the city’s budget was disbursed as of July 31. This sluggish disbursement is mainly attributable to slow site clearance.

While the capacity of some investors, project managing boards and consultancies remains inconsistent, contractors selected for some projects changed for one service multiple times, affecting the progress of projects, participants at the meeting were told.

Source: VNA