Viet Nam disbursed 74.1% of the public investment capital allocated by the Prime Minister in the first 10 months of 2026, up 19.7 percentage points from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Embankment work underway on the Chau Doc–Can Tho–Soc Trang Expressway (Photo: VNA)

As of October 31, total public investment disbursement stood at nearly 708.6 trillion VND (over 27.5 billion USD), rising more than 217.5 trillion VND from a year earlier. Of this, central budget capital accounted for 182 trillion VND, or 59.6% of its annual target, while local budget capital reached 526.5 trillion VND, or 81%.

Excluding nearly 30.7 trillion VND in local budget savings expected from a 5% reduction for the Lao Cai–Ha Noi–Hai Phong railway project, the disbursement rate reached 76.6% of the adjusted plan of nearly 925.2 trillion VND.

Despite the improvement, disbursement progress remained uneven among ministries, sectors and localities, with some lagging in capital allocation and disbursement, the ministry said.

Ha Noi recorded the largest disbursement at 125.4 trillion VND, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 111 trillion VND. Other localities with high disbursement included Hai Phong (33.9 trillion VND), Hung Yen (28.2 trillion VND), Tay Ninh (25.6 trillion VND) and Dong Nai (20.3 trillion VND).

Among ministries and central agencies, the Ministry of National Defence led with 38.6 trillion VND, followed by the Ministry of Public Security with 34.1 trillion VND and the Ministry of Construction with 21.7 trillion VND.

However, high disbursement volumes did not necessarily translate into high rates of target completion or top performance scores. The Ministry of Finance's assessment placed seven ministries and central agencies and 13 localities in the top-performing group for their 2026 capital plans.

Five central agencies – the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies, the State Bank of Viet Nam, the Viet Nam Development Bank, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defence – scored 100 points. The Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics scored 98.79, while the Ministry of Industry and Trade received 93.62.

Among localities, Dien Bien ranked first with 100 points, followed by Hai Phong with 99.97, Ca Mau with 98.03, Gia Lai with 97.97 and Khanh Hoa with 97.67. Lao Cai, Bac Ninh, Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Nghe An and Dong Nai were also rated highly.

The Ministry of Finance also pointed out shortcomings in capital allocation. Detailed allocations totalled over 1 quadrillion VND. Excluding additional capital plans assigned by localities, the figure stood at 948 trillion VND, equivalent to 99.2% of the Prime Minister's allocation.

Over 7.8 trillion VND in central budget capital, or 0.8% of the plan, remained unallocated in detail, involving five central agencies and 20 localities.

The main reasons included difficulties with investment procedures, incomplete assignment of medium-term capital plans, and issues related to national target programmes, school construction in border areas and supplementary funding.

In the remaining months of the year, completing the allocation of outstanding capital, resolving investment procedure bottlenecks and strengthening the accountability of slow-disbursing units will be important to fulfilling the 2026 public investment plan, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The National Assembly approved a total 2026 public investment plan of 1.1 quadrillion VND from state budget funds. After deducting amounts not yet assigned in detail, the plan allocated by the Prime Minister stood at nearly 955.87 trillion VND.

VNA