The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) may roll out a credit package worth some VND5 trillion (US$215 million) for low-income earners, with fast and easy procedures, to help them avoid borrowing from loan sharks, reported Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.
Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu said at a banking conference in HCM City yesterday, January 23, that the government had called for drastic measures to fight loan sharks. If residents have easier access to loans through official channels, they will have no need of loan sharks.
The SBV urged Agribank to introduce the credit package, where a resident would be able to apply for a loan in the morning and get the money that afternoon.
He noted that if a family has a member hospitalised for urgent treatment, but the application for a bank loan takes three to four days for disbursement, they are forced to borrow from loan sharks.
He asked the bank to present a loan approval system within a single day, with reasonable lending rates and interest rates.
The central bank leader also required the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to launch a similar package for poor households. Other commercial banks were urged to create consumer loan products for microbusinesses and residents.
“Consumer lending is becoming a market trend, especially for small and retail loans. Residents borrowing at an annual interest rate of 12 percent-14 percent is reasonable and good for the market compared with seeking the services of loan sharks offering usurious rates of interest,” he noted.
He added that consumer loan packages for low-income earners should be made available in not only rural and remote areas but also urban areas and in industrial and export processing zones to meet the capital needs of a wide range of customer groups.
https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/65802/agribank-to-launch-vnd5 trillion-credit-package-for-low-income-earners.html
