Asian Development Bank Approves $200m For Vietnam

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved Wednesday a total of US$200.58 million in loans and grants to increase the efficiency of Viet Nam's public expenditure to improve infrastructure provision, social service delivery, and reduce poverty.

    The Improving Public Expenditure Quality Program comprises two subprograms with the first including policy-based loans amounting to $117.3 million from the Asian Development Fund and $82.7 million financed from the bank’s ordinary capital resources, according to ADB press release.

    There will also be a technical assistance grant worth $575,000 to support technical and capacity development objectives of the program. "Viet Nam has scaled-up its expenditure on infrastructure and social services over the last decade, yet the impact of this spending has seen mixed results," said Aaron Batten, Country Economist at ADB’s Viet Nam Resident Mission. "This program will support government efforts to more efficiently allocate its public financial resources so that it can strengthen the impact of public spending, better deliver infrastructure and services to poor communities and improve the country’s overall competitiveness." The program supports a number of upgrades the government is making to Viet Nam’s public expenditure and fiscal management systems. 

    This includes the introduction of medium-term expenditure and debt planning, strengthening the management of public assets, improving transparency and tightening controls over government guarantees, and undertaking stronger oversight and evaluation of public investment.