Due to incomplete investment procedures in projects, 27 centrally-run localities, including Ho Chi Minh City, have proposed that loan capital estimates for their reborrowing purposes be reduced.

According to the Department of Debt Management and External Finance at the Ministry of Finance, as of the end of August, proposed reductions of such loan capital stood at nearly VND5.6 trillion ($225 million).

Proposed reductions are attributed to the fact that localities could not complete investment procedures for projects on time, or have not yet signed loan agreements, or signed agreements have not come into force, or have investment policies in need of adjustment, etc.

There remains many obstacles in site clearance or in bidding procedures.

Meanwhile, six other localities, including Hanoi, have proposed that loan capital be increased, by a total of VND349 billion ($14.3 million).

Under a plan approved by the government for this year, loan capital it has borrowed from foreign and other resources and then estimated for localities to reborrow stood at VND27.2 trillion ($1.12 billion). Meanwhile, debts to be paid by localities this year are estimated at nearly VND5 trillion ($204 million), including interest payments of nearly VND2.2 trillion ($90 million).  

According to the Ministry of Finance, the disbursement of public investment capital this year, as of October 31, was estimated at more than VND430.6 trillion (nearly $17.6 billion), or just 52 per cent of the annual plan.