Road Projects Lack Sufficient Funding from State Budget
Many major transport infrastructure projects sufficient capital from foreign sources, but lack of funds from the state budget be spent on site clearance and other costs, according to ministry officials. In this fact lets to according to Nguyen Hoang, head of the Ministry of Transport Planning and Investment Department, most capital projects comes from Official Development Assistance (ODA) from foreign donors and others with a favorable interest rate. The company has already cleared for the 139-kilometer-Da Nang Quang Ngai section project, one of the largest parts of the North-South Highway project.
The Ministry of Transport also has a loan of $ 80,000,000 from the International Development Association (IDA) for 35 years, including a 10-year grace period. In addition, the Ministry received a loan of $ 500 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for 25 years, including a 10-year grace period and interest at Libor plus 1.25 percent. It also has a loan of 725 million U.S. dollars from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the implementation of the project. The ministry said the 1.61 billion U.S. dollars set aside for the 56-kilometer Ben Luc – Long Thanh Highway project, which is also part of the North – South Highway project.