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Loan subsidy program meant to benefit businesses: Central bank
Businesses have benefited from the government program to subsidize loan interest, the central bank chief said, dismissing speculation that the program has only helped banks.
Interest-subsidized loans under the program have helped many businesses cut costs and boost production, Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in a report published on the State Bank of Vietnam’s website Monday.
The government decided in January to use VND17 trillion (US$970 million) from an economic stimulus package to provide a 4- percent interest subsidy on loans to companies that export, import or produce essential goods.
Most commercial banks are lending at 10 percent and if businesses are eligible for the government subsidy program, they only have to pay 6 percent interest on their loans, Giau said.
The program is designed to provide cheap loans to businesses to help them cope with financial difficulties, he said, noting it is not aimed at benefiting commercial banks as some people have said.
Some exporters said at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City last Tuesday they are not benefiting much from the program since not many qualify for bank credit.
The State Bank of Vietnam said until last Friday, commercial banks had lent a combined VND144.3 trillion ($8.3 billion) to businesses at subsidized rates.
They are expected to provide VND420 trillion, or nearly $24.1 billion, worth loans over the course of the program.
Thanh Nien
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