Hanoi (VNA) - Thedisbursement of public investment sourced from foreign loans in localities aroundVietnam during January - November increased considerably compared to the firsthalf of the year.

As of November 30, 41 percent of the publicinvestment that is an additional allocation from the central budget tolocalities’ budgets and belongs to this year’s revised disbursement plan hadbeen disbursed, a teleconference between the Ministry of Finance (MoF) andlocalities on December 7 heard.

There are four localities with disbursement ratesexceeding 70 percent of the revised disbursement targets - Hanoi and theprovinces of Binh Dinh, Tay Ninh, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

In terms of capital the Government re-lends tolocalities, disbursed funds account for 38 percent of the initial plan and 41percent of the revised target.

Truong Hung Long, Director of the MoF’sDepartment of Debt Management and External Finance, said that although publicinvestment disbursement, considered an important growth driver, had been sped up,it has begun to slow over the last two months as some projects are nearingcompletion and central provinces have had to invest efforts in coping with naturaldisasters.

The 11-month disbursement rate of 41 percent isstill low, as most localities have committed to this figure reaching 90 percentor higher, he noted.

The MoF requested localities take prompt actions.since there is not much time left for the task and the undisbursed capital fromforeign concessional loans remains relatively large./.