Ho Chi Minh City disbursed nearly VND43.5 trillion ($1.8 billion) of public investment capital throughout 2023, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

The figure is equal to 63 per cent of the capital allocated to the city for 2023, the Kinh te & Do thi (Economic & Urban Affairs) reported.

“Results fell short of the target but were 1.7-fold higher than in 2022,” Chairman Phan Van Mai told a conference on January 13 to review the city’s implementation of public investment in 2023.

The city has set a target of disbursing 12-15 per cent of public investment capital in the first quarter of 2024, he said.

In order to speed up the process, he asked relevant agencies to improve procedures to approve investment projects and handle contractors with low capacity causing project delays.