Hoa Binh 3 Bridge, with costruction using ODA funding, in northern Hoa Binh province was put into use in February 2020 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - While the disbursementof official development assistance (ODA) has seen progress, without drasticsolutions, it will be difficult for ministries and sectors to achieve allocationtargets, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha has said.
He told a meeting in Hanoi on August 26 that 3.742trillion VND (nearly 161.5 million USD) in ODA funding had been disbursed as ofthe end of August, or 21.64 percent of this year’s target, and higher than the disbursementin the same period last year yet still lower than the disbursement of domesticpublic capital, which currently stands at 40 percent.
Among ministries, the Ministry of Transport postedthe best performance in ODA disbursement, at about 51 percent as of the end ofAugust. It acknowledged, however, that disbursement still falls short ofexpectations.
It blamed the slowness partly on the impact of COVID-19,which has been an obstacle to foreign experts coming to the country and alsoaffected the bidding process, as well as the prolonged handling of adjustmentsto certain projects.
The Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment said that since the beginning of the year, it has requestedsubordinate units make disbursement commitments for each month and quarter.
However, it noted, the coronavirus outbreak hasaffected the bidding process. Also, most agricultural projects are small andscattered over different localities, which are slow to provide reciprocalcapital, to the detriment of project implementation.
Another official at the event pointed out thatprojects funded via ODA or foreign preferential loans are suffering more fromthe pandemic compared to those using domestic funds, because they must satisfylenders’ requirements such as using imported equipment or foreign experts,contractors, and advisers.
Apart from disbursing assigned capital for 2020,ministries and sectors also have to work on funds they didn’t finish allocatinglast year, adding more to their workload, he added.
To speed up ODA and foreign capitaldisbursement, the Ministry of Finance has asked other ministries and sectors toconsider completing their public investment allocation targets as an importantpolitical task.
Deputy Minister Ha called for coordination amongthem to thoroughly deal with the obstacles, adding that his ministry willdiscuss problems arising during disbursement with lenders./.
VNA
