### Ho Chi Minh City Urged to Accelerate Public Investment Disbursement
Ho Chi Minh City Chairman speaks at economic meeting |
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Chairman Phan Van Mai has emphasized the urgent need to accelerate public investment disbursement, with only 70,000 billion VND remaining for this year’s plan. This translates to a monthly disbursement requirement of 10,000 billion VND until December 2023.
To achieve this challenging target, Mai has instructed Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung, who is directly responsible for public investment, to provide weekly, if not daily, guidance.
“We have a public investment action plan in place. All agencies should refer to this plan for implementation. We will also maintain the operation of public investment task forces and project steering committees to remove any obstacles,” Mai stressed.
The Chairman has requested investors to develop monthly disbursement plans and monitor their progress closely. He also highlighted the importance of focusing on transitional projects, which have experienced low disbursement rates in the first four months of 2023. Some projects have been tendered since late 2022 but have yet to commence construction. Mai urged the acceleration of these projects, particularly large-scale ones.
Regarding underperforming contractors, Mai stated that strict measures will be taken. The city will also cut funding for projects that cannot be continued and swiftly replace them with well-prepared and eligible alternatives.
In 2024, the city has allocated a detailed public investment plan of nearly 79,264 billion VND, comprising 3,169 billion VND from the central budget and 75,577 billion VND from local resources.
### Economic Recovery Without a Significant Boost
During the meeting, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment Le Thi Huynh Mai reported positive industry growth in April compared to the same period last year. However, she acknowledged certain areas of concern. Public investment disbursement remains low, falling short of targets.
As of April 26, HCMC had disbursed 5,969 billion VND, representing only 7.5% of the allocated funds. This is 2.4 times higher than the same period in 2023. Additionally, the number of suspended businesses has increased, and average registered capital continues to decline.
Foreign exchange, exchange rates, and gold prices in the city have shown an upward trend. The consumer price index has also risen over the past four months.
Assessing the city’s economic performance in the first four months of the year, Nguyen Khac Hoang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Statistics, noted that the economy is recovering but lacks a significant boost.
Industrial production increased by 5.1%, but the average annual growth rate since the COVID-19 pandemic is only 2.4%, compared to the national average of 6%. Although the number of orders in the manufacturing sector has rebounded, the order durations are shorter, prices have not increased, and profit margins are not providing sufficient incentive for businesses.
According to Hoang, total retail sales increased by 14.2% in the first four months of the year, but the scale is only comparable to April 2022. Low consumer spending indicates the need for further stimulus measures.
Regarding public investment, data from the HCMC State Treasury shows that as of April 26, a total of 5,969 billion VND had been disbursed, representing 7.5% of the allocated funds.
“While the absolute disbursement amount is three times higher than last year, it still falls short of the target. Similarly, budget spending in the first four months is at its lowest level since 2022,” Hoang said.
Tùng Phong
