High commodity prices and slow disbursement of public investment have caused the Vietnamese economy to face many challenges.
Accelerating the disbursement of public investment has not only solved bottlenecks, but also promoted economic growth and developed strategic breakthroughs in infrastructure. Photo: Thai Hung/VNA.
Unlocking capital to create growth momentum
The socio-economic situation of Vietnam in the past time has achieved many positive results in the fields, COVID-19 is basically under control, the macro-economy is stable, major balances are secured. In the first 5 months of the year, budget revenue increased by 18.7%; total export turnover increased by 15.6%; the number of newly established enterprises increased by 12.9%... S&P (a US-based financial services company) has upgraded Vietnam's long-term national credit rating to BB+. The confidence of people, businesses and investors is constantly being consolidated and enhanced.
Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) said: “Economic signals have been given since the first months of the year, the economic recovery process is taking place quite strongly. Economic organizations looking at the dynamics of the Vietnamese economy also give relatively objective forecasts, it can be seen that Vietnam can achieve the target of economic growth of 6 - 6.5% in the next year. This year, even higher.”
However, in the context that the world and regional situation continues to evolve rapidly and unpredictably; The world economy continued to recover, but the drag and potential risks increased. Economic, political and military competition between countries is complicated, especially the war in Ukraine is still prolonged and difficult to predict. The risk of inflation increases, the price of raw materials and inputs increases, especially the price of oil; Issues of non-traditional security, food security, climate change... are complicated. This has had a significant impact on the Vietnamese economy.
Therefore, many economic experts said: Accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital both solves bottlenecks, promotes economic growth, and develops strategic breakthroughs in infrastructure.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the disbursement of public investment capital in the past 5 months is low. Disbursement data as of May 31 recorded a total payment value of VND 115,900 billion, equal to 22% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.
“The main subjective reason for the slow disbursement of capital in the past 5 months is that the spirit and responsibility of the investor and all levels have not been paid much attention and have not been drastic and thorough. Under the same conditions, the same institution, but many localities realize high disbursement thanks to many good models and good practices. Therefore, the problem here is that there are localities that are still not interested, the direction is not good as well as the organization and implementation work is still limited, and the formulation and preparation of projects and plans are still not close." Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said.
In a meeting with Working Group No. 5 of the Prime Minister, Mr. Truong Quoc Huy, Chairman of Ha Nam People's Committee explained: Disbursing disbursement is slow because 2022 is the first year of project implementation with new tasks, so the procedure is long. . Bidding alone took 30 days, each other process took up to 30-35 days. Not to mention, the price of construction materials has increased, especially cement, iron and steel, so contractors tend to deploy in moderation, waiting to be compensated.
According to Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, to solve the problem of disbursing public investment capital, it is not possible only to deal with the immediate problem, but to solve the fundamental and long-term problem through continuing to improve the institution and change the situation. change management approach, use public investment capital, how to match and keep up with development requirements.
Referring to the disbursement situation, Minister Ho Duc Phuc frankly said that: Progress is too slow compared to the requirements and targets assigned by the Government leaders since the beginning of the year. That is not including other indicators such as: Revenue exceeding the budget; Demand stimulus program, National target program; the relative percentage of disbursements is even lower. In the current context, rising world inflation, rising domestic prices, increasing prices of petrol, steel, construction materials, labor... need to have appropriate solutions.
Leaders of the Ministry of Finance cited the case of a contractor operating in moderation because the price increased, but in fact, the slower the work, the higher the cost, the more loss. It even leads to business difficulties and loss of financial capacity. This leads to a new risk of capital recovery because the amount of money the State advances to enterprises cannot be recovered.
“Therefore, units need to promote coordination and encourage enterprises to execute quickly; It is necessary to focus on dismantling enterprises to speed up the project progress, quickly complete the handover and put into use, promote efficiency, and fight inflation," said Minister Ho Duc Phuc.
Remove obstacles in investment procedures
Leaders of the Ministry of Finance commented: Investment procedures have now revealed cumbersome points, creating bottlenecks when implementing. In the Law on Public Investment, many items are included, causing delays in many stages, affecting each other, causing general delays. In which, the bottleneck on site clearance compensation (GPMB) needs to be removed soon. Because the preparation stage takes a lot of time, the units are proactive and creative, need to go one step ahead, ensure that when the bidding is completed, all the preparation stages have been completed, including the ground to deploy the first project. investment quickly.
Minister Ho Duc Phuc suggested that local leaders must clearly assign and appoint provincial leaders (for example, deputy levels) to urge departments and branches to regularly solve problems quickly at the scene. Do not let the fear of responsibility exist, push the work, uphold the responsibility of the leader.
Regarding slow land clearance, leaders of the Ministry of Finance said that this is a long-standing bottleneck, due to many reasons such as land origin, conflicts over compensation prices. The contents of the compensation coefficient within the competence of the Provincial People's Committee should be applied according to the law, as well as the agreement (depending on the nature of the project) to remove difficulties.
According to Dr. Tran Toan Thang, National Center for Socio-economic Information and Forecasting, Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the remaining time of 2022, many factors will positively support the process of economic recovery and growth. . However, Vietnam needs to pay special attention to the risk of imported inflation from abroad. Low inflation is present in the country partly because of low consumer demand. In particular, it is necessary to study the scenario of continuing to reduce excise tax to deal with the case of gasoline prices when the world price fluctuates greatly, as well as delaying/postponing the increase of taxes/fees to stabilize the prices of commodities. other consumption.
We also need to focus on building institutions and policies to support investment promotion and investment linkages between economic sectors, between domestic enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises (FDI). ); Improving internal capacity, especially ground and skilled workers, needs special attention in the coming time", said Dr. Tran Toan Thang.
In addition, it is necessary to be more drastic and faster than the economic stimulus packages approved in the Government's Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP. Besides the infrastructure investment package, the interest rate support loan packages are also needed. Rates, support to build social housing for employees, tax/fee exemption and reduction measures for specific target groups, should be further promoted.
According to Minh Phuong/Newspapers
