Public investment shift taking place

Public investment remains a key growth driver for Vietnam, with the government allocating nearly $40 billion in capital despite slow disbursement in the first two months.

- By Nguyen Huong

Vietnam has entered 2026 with one of its largest public investment programmes on record, as the government seeks to sustain economic momentum through infrastructure development. However, despite the scale of planned spending, disbursement in the first months of the year remains modest as many projects continue to complete procedural requirements.

For 2026, the government has assigned more than $39 billion in state budget investment capital to ministries, central agencies, and localities, about $3.7 billion higher than the 2025 plan. Of this total, central budget capital accounts for more than $13.8 billion, including over $13.08 billion in domestic funding and the remaining in foreign capital. Local budget capital makes up more than $26 billion.

According to a report released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in early March, local authorities have further increased their balanced local budget investment plans for 2026 by nearly $480 million compared with the government's original allocation. In addition, more than $13.2 million in capital from previous years has been allowed to carry forward.

Thus, the total public investment assigned for 2026, including government allocations, additional local funding, and carried-over capital, has surpassed $40 billion.

In terms of capital allocation, progress has been relatively strong. By the end of February, ministries, central agencies and local governments had detailed investment plans for projects and programmes worth more than $39 billion, covering both central and local budget capital.