|
Govt called on to reserve capital for farmers and agricultural development
Experts have called on the Government to reconsider the subjects eligible to enjoy the interest rate subsidisation programme and the subsidisation levels, suggesting it give support to subjects which have been passed over, including small- and medium-size enterprises and farmers.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam, 66 percent of the money disbursed under the 4 percent interest rate subsidisation programme has gone to non-state enterprises; however, household enterprises have only received 18.5 percent of total preferential capital.
The package which aims to support agricultural production has been going very slowly. In many localities, farmers cannot access preferential loans due to complicated procedures.
Meanwhile, according to Pham Chi Lan, Deputy Head of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), the conclusion that most preferential capital has flown to production is a hasty conclusion. It is necessary to identify where the 66 percent of capital for non-state enterprises has been going to, which enterprises, which business fields, and how many percent of small- and medium-size enterprises have got some of this 66 percent of capital.
Statistics showed that in first six months of the year, production grew slowly, while exports reached $27.7 billion only, down by 10.2 percent over the same period of 2008. Lan said that the State Bank of Vietnam needs to check where the preferential capital has gone over the last time and if the capital has gone to the right beneficiaries, saying that the remainder of the interest rate programme (20 percent, or 100,000 billion dong) should target other subjects, including small- and medium-size enterprises, agriculture and rural areas.
Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, Member of the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policies, said that it is necessary to set conditions while providing interest rate subsidisation. A lot of export companies have got preferential loans, but they refused to sell dollars to banks, partially causing the dollar shortage on the market. Ngan thinks that if export companies are not cooperative by refusing to sell dollars, they should not be provided with preferential loans.
Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Head of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said that he has found out from a fact-finding trip to Mekong Delta provinces that most farmers are still ignorant of the interest rate subsidisation programme. They either have not been able to access information, or have the information but cannot borrow money due to complicated procedures.
Currently, commercial banks only provide loans with Government subsidised interest rates to farmers who purchase domestically-made agricultural machines, while most machines available on the market are foreign made.
Thanh believes that it is necessary to have more incentives for farmers and rural areas as this is the market which can help create purchasing power. In order to exploit the market, supporting policies need to be more open, procedures need to be more open.
Cao Sy Kiem, Member of the National Advisory Council for Finance and Monetary Policies, said that the countryside is an area which has been greatly influenced by the economic downturn, but the sector has not received adequate support.
Kiem said that the demand stimulus package, which has helped many enterprises overcome difficulties, now should reserve preferences for rural areas.
vietnamnet, tt
|
