At the conference between ministries and localities and the WB (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Disbursement of World Bank (WB) loans had increased 55 percentyear-on-year as of September 30, the Ministry of Finance revealed on October28.
The WB is a major donor to Vietnam, with more than 7.3 billion USD committed to36 programmes and projects, of which 33 loans worth over 6.5 billion USD have goneto agreements. Three others valued at 506 million USD have been approved by theInternational Development Association (IDA) but are yet to be cemented inagreements.
Eight loans will have disbursement completed this year, and 10 others in 2021.
Speaking at an online conference between ministries and localities and the WB,Nguyen Xuan Thao, deputy head of the finance ministry’s debt management andexternal finance department, said all projects must observe regulations set bythe bank regarding site compensation and resettlement, and procurement andbidding.
All adjustments to agreements must abide by legal regulations on internationaltreaties, she stressed.
Not all WB loans are ready to be disbursed, she went on, adding that five ofthe 36 loans were undisbursed as of October 15, as investment procedures are yetto be completed or contracts yet to be signed, she explained.
According to the bank, the agreements of 17 of the 31 remaining loans needadjustments due to design changes and disbursement extensions, among othermatters.
The finance ministry said that although the disbursement rate of WB loans ishigher than it was in 2019, it remains lower than the disbursement of domesticpublic investment capital.
Deputy Finance Minister Tran Xuan Ha blamed project extensions, agreement anddesign changes as well as the slow implementation of investment procedures forthe low disbursement rate.
There are also mechanisms and procedures that do not match Vietnameseregulations, he added.
To accelerate the disbursement of WB and foreign loans, participants urgedrelevant agencies to fulfil investment tasks in 2020, while promptly completingproject adjustment procedures.
The finance ministry pledged to closely coordinate with centrally-runministries and agencies as well as localities to review and remove bottlenecksin project building, and to work with development partners to put forthsuitable regulations, thus pushing ahead with project implementation anddisbursement./.
VNA
