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During the discussion of the plan for socio-economic development and the state budget held on the morning of April 21, 2026, lawmakers said the disbursement of public investment capital remained a key concern. They noted that many ministries, agencies and localities were behind schedule in implementation, with some even returning funds.
Members of the National Assembly urged the Government to clarify the specific causes behind low disbursement rates at each ministry, agency and unit. They also called for studying strict sanctions in cases where funds are returned due to subjective reasons, to improve the efficiency of state resources.
Representative Phan Duy Anh from Da Nang said the Government’s report sets ambitious targets for investment capital efficiency for the next five years, including average GDP growth of 10% per year, an expected sharp drop in the ICOR coefficient from 6.43 in 2021–2025 to 4.5–4.8, capital accumulation at 35–36% of GDP, and total social investment around 40% of GDP.
“These are ambitious targets, reflecting strong political will. However, analysis suggests that to ensure feasibility, many issues must be clarified,” Anh said.
Anh cited that ICOR was 6.77 in 2016–2020 and 6.43 in 2021–2025, meaning the reduction after five years is only 0.34 points. The 2026–2030 target of 4.5–4.8 would require a further reduction of 1.6–1.9 points.
He argued that without breakthrough measures addressing structural problems—such as dispersed capital allocation, low project preparation quality, delays in land clearance, and limited supply of construction materials—the target would be difficult to achieve.
Anh also called for a clear roadmap explaining what portion of the ICOR reduction would come from labor productivity, what portion from applying science and technology, and what portion from restructuring public investment toward a more focused approach rather than dispersion.
On revenue forecasting and budget planning, Anh noted that in 2025, state budget revenue reached 2,681,000 billion VND, exceeding the plan by 36.3%. He said the result reflects efforts across the system, but lawmakers still need an honest assessment of forecasting and budgeting accuracy.
“This is not an isolated phenomenon; misalignment between forecasts and actuals has occurred for several years,” Anh said. He stressed that realistic budgeting is not only a technical issue, but also a basis for fiscal policy decisions, allocations, and controlling deficits and public debt.
He urged the Government to adopt prompt, fundamental measures to improve the quality of evaluation, forecasting and budgeting. He also called for studying reforms to budgeting methods to align with international practices, including treating revenue targets not as fixed but adjusting expenditure to actual revenue.
Regarding public investment disbursement and financial discipline, Anh said the disbursement rate reached 98% of the Prime Minister’s plan, which he described as a positive result. However, he said the composition shows uneven quality: local budgets disbursed 117.8% of plan, while the central budget reached only 76.1%.
He added that disbursement by the private sector (non-state) reached only 44.5% of plan, a situation that has persisted for years. In Q1 2026, disbursement progress stood at 10.4% of the estimates, while 48.3 trillion VND of planned funds remained unallocated across 15 ministries, central agencies and 24 localities.
Anh reiterated calls for the Government to clarify the causes of slow disbursement for each ministry and locality with low rates, and to study firm sanctions for plans returned due to subjective causes.
Another issue raised was financial discipline in science and technology spending. Anh said allocating 3% of total expenditure to science, technology, innovation and digital transformation under Resolution 57-NQ/TW is the right policy. However, he noted that 9,461 billion VND had to be rolled over to 2026 due to non-disbursement.
“This indicates bottlenecks in the disbursement mechanism and limited absorption capacity. The Government should direct review and streamline the mechanism to accelerate disbursement, ensuring that a large central resource is put to use and creates a real breakthrough for the new growth model,” Anh said.
On the framework for an international financial center, Anh said that after the National Assembly passed Resolution 222/2025/QH15, the Government has directed rapid action to issue 18 decrees and to establish and operationalize the international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. He said the initiative is strategically important and will require genuine competitive advantages over other global financial centers.
He urged continued efforts to address upcoming difficulties to ensure the center operates effectively and attracts capital, technology and major financial institutions.
Gia Lai deputy Le Hoang Anh also urged the Government to issue guidelines for implementing Conclusion 18-KL/TW to ensure realistic growth targets for 2026–2030, linked to the objective of achieving two-digit growth. He said project accounting must reflect the true nature of each project, warning that applying a single set of criteria to all projects could become a bottleneck.
A dedicated parliamentarian recommended accelerating real-time digital governance of public investment, including dashboards to track progress, disbursement and budget overruns, with clear accountability across the investor, treasury and audit bodies.
“The two-digit growth target is feasible, but only if we reform the right places bravely—not by pouring more money into the old system or issuing more regulations; we must change the capital allocation mechanism so every investment activity proves its value,” Anh concluded.
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