Inefficient and wasteful public construction topped the agenda at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Financial and Budgetary Committee in Hanoi September 29.
Reviewing the results of efforts to practice thrift and fight squander, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said many ministries, provinces, and cities have managed to implement the policy of cutting regular spending by 10 percent.
Thanh Hoa Province has saved VND62.2 billion (US$3.45 million), Thai Binh VND33.3 billion, Hung Yen VND37.2 billion, and Lai Chau VND21.1 billion, he said.
But public works continue to be plagued by wastefulness, many complained.
For instance, Duong Anh Dien, the head of the NA Hai Phong delegation, said in some cases the cost of building just 500 meters of an expressway has been as much as the total spending by a State agency in one year.
Waste can also be seen in many key national traffic-related projects, members said.
A highway connecting HCM City with the Trung Luong crossroads in Tien Giang Province has been dragged for many years and its cost estimate has tripled to VND9 trillion ($500 million), they said.
Other examples, they said, are the Bac Ninh-Noi Bai expressway and, especially, National Highway No. 5 linking Hanoi and Hai Phong which needs an additional funding of over $1 billion because of improper planning.
A report on practicing thrift and fighting wastefulness will be presented at the ongoing 24th session of the NA Standing Committee and then submitted to the NA at its sixth session scheduled to start on October 20, the meeting was told.
This year, gross capital formation is about 42 percent of the GDP and the GDP growth is expected at 5-5.2 percent, so the Incremental Capital Output Ratio – which measures capital efficiency -- would be very high, even up to 8, Trinh Huy Quach, deputy chairman of the NA Financial and Budgetary Committee, said.
