All 3 national target programs have "slow disbursement"

Disbursement is slower than required

Presenting the report of the National Assembly's supervision delegation, Chairman of the Nationalities Council Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam stated that this was the first time the National Assembly had conducted mid-term supervision, simultaneously with 3 target programs.

With the new rural construction programAs of June 30, the whole country had 6,022 communes (73.65%) meeting new rural standards, 1,331 communes meeting advanced new rural standards, and 176 communes meeting model new rural standards; 263/644 district-level units (40.8%) were recognized as completing tasks/meeting new rural standards.

19 provinces and cities have 100% of communes meeting new rural standards (of which, 5 provinces have completed the new rural program).

However, the central budget's development investment capital is slowly allocated and the counterpart rate is still high, causing difficulties for some localities, especially poor provinces.

The disbursement progress of central budget capital in 2022 and the 2021-2025 period is still slow compared to requirements, especially career capital, as of June 30, only 9.17% of the year's capital plan had been disbursed.

The results of new rural construction are not uniform and not really sustainable; some localities lack determination and show signs of slowing down in directing the implementation of new rural construction.

On poverty reduction,In the 2021-2025 period, the poverty reduction target is higher than in previous periods, linked to sustainable development goals, but the areas and subjects of program implementation focus on the most difficult "poor cores" of the country.

As a result, in 2021, the poverty rate decreased by 0.52% compared to 2020. Although it has not yet reached the target assigned by the National Assembly, in the context that the whole country is heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth is only at 2.58%, the lowest in the past 30 years, the poverty reduction result is a recognized effort.

In 2022, the poverty rate decreased by 1.17% and is estimated to decrease by 1.1% in 2023, the poverty reduction rate of ethnic minorities decreased by over 3%, achieving and exceeding the target of the 13th Party Congress resolution and Resolution 24 of the National Assembly.

However, the allocation of the central budget is still slow; the disbursement of central budget capital in 2022 (by January 31, 2023) reached 35.63% of the plan (development investment capital reached 45% of the plan; public service capital reached 6.39% of the plan).

With the national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas,By June 2023, the central budget capital has been fully allocated to localities, ensuring compliance with current regulations...

Although there are still many difficulties in implementation, according to the Government's report, the poverty rate of ethnic minority households in 2022 decreased by 3.4%, reaching and exceeding the assigned plan target; many other infrastructure and socio-economic indicators basically met the program's targets.

Notably, the disbursement results are low, from 2022 to June 2023, the disbursement is about 18.9% compared to the medium-term plan. Disbursement of career capital in 2022 reached 5.2%, in 2023 (up to June 30), disbursement was 3.9% of the annual plan. Therefore, the program is unlikely to complete the disbursement target by the end of 2025.

According to the report, the program has so far achieved and exceeded many of its targets, but in reality, the lives of ethnic minorities still face many difficulties, and economic and social development is slow.

The rate of poor, near-poor and risk of falling back into poverty is high; the gap between rich and poor tends to increase.

The ability to double the average income compared to 2020, reduce 50% of extremely difficult communes, and complete the targets by 2025 in ethnic minority areas according to the very difficult goal.

Still confused about direction and implementation

Besides objective reasons, the first implementation of the mechanism, management, and general direction of 3 national target programs and the implementation of the National Assembly's innovation principles... inevitably led to difficulties and confusion in direction and implementation.

In addition, the practical capacity of a number of cadres and civil servants in advising, drafting documents and policies, and managing and organizing the implementation of programs is still limited in quantity and quality, especially at the district and commune levels in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

There is a situation of shirking, avoiding, and fear of responsibility among a number of cadres and civil servants in performing their duties, especially the legal basis for implementing some policies is still unclear and inconsistent...