The report, released Wednesday by the National Assembly’s Finance Committee, says ODA disbursement in the first five months of the year was just VND2 trillion ($85.9 million), while the annual target is VND28 trillion ($1.2 billion).

According to the report, the delay was caused by a lack of consistent policies among different government bodies and an unclear management mechanism.

The lethargic disbursement has delayed major projects and resulted in ballooning costs, the report said.

Eric Sidgwick, country director for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), had said at a forum in June that Vietnam’s average disbursement rate was much lower than other recipients of ADB funding.

Red tape was one of the main causes for this situation, he said. Even minor changes in projects, like increases in scale, 6-month loan extensions, cost structure changes, or the use of contingency funds had to get investment policy approval, and in the meantime, project activities and payments were suspended, he noted.

Last year, the country only met 53.65 percent of its disbursement target, the Finance Committee report said.

The new section, connecting the downtown Hanoi Railway Station with southern Hoang Mai District, is estimated to cost $1.75 billion. The remaining $271.3 million will come from the city’s budget, the Hanoi People’s Committee said in a document.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed to lend $450 million for the project, construction of which is scheduled to start in 2021. Other lenders that have expressed interest in the project are the German state-owned development bank KfW, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the World Bank.

The Hanoi Railway Station-Hoang Mai section is one of three sections of the 26-kilometer Metro Line 3. The other parts are the long-delayed Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route, which is under constructed, and the Troi-Nhon section, where work is yet to begin.

The Hanoi Railway Station-Hoang Mai section will run 8.7 kilometers from Le Duan Street to the Phap Van viaduct in Hoang Mai District. Most of the route will run underground.

An area of 11.34 hectares will need to be cleared, and construction is set to be completed in 2025.

Hanoi plans to have nine metro lines by 2030 with vision until 2050. Only two have started construction so far and none started operations.

The first metro line Cat Linh-Ha Dong runs from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District. It is now 99 percent completed. This project missed its deadline in April due to the inexperience of the Chinese contractor, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station, the second line, is now half completed. It runs 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in Tay Tuu Ward, the western district of Nam Tu Liem, via Kim Ma Street to Hanoi Railway Station.

The Ministry of Transport had said earlier that five metro projects in Vietnam have seen their costs balloon by VND81 trillion ($3.5 billion) following long delays.