An executive of a small commercial bank said that he had asked his staff to phone the central bank to register the amount of loan interest support for its customers but the answer was that we would have to wait for detailed guidance. Other banks have also adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
The central bank expects to hold a meeting this Wednesday with banks’ representatives to announce the Prime Minister’s decision on loan interest support for manufacturing and trading borrowers to create working capital.
Nguyen Quoc Sy, deputy general director of Western Commercial Bank, said he threw support behind this economic stimulus package worth VND17 trillion, in which borrowers will get loan interest backing equivalent to four percentage points.
“The interest rate support is just a small figure, but the important thing is that enterprises are eager to borrow money for business. Commercial banks will have the opportunity to pump credit into the economy,” Sy said.
However, he said that his bank was waiting for guidance on specific criteria on which enterprises, especially those engaging in multiple fields, can enjoy the interest rate support from the bank.
Huynh Song Hao, deputy director of HCMC branch of Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), said he was worried about the assessment of credit contracts which would be different from what banks were doing at the moment.
“Banks rate certain enterprises as good and agree to take four percentage points of the interest rate for loans, but what will happen if the central bank says these borrowers do not meet criteria? We are waiting for a clear explanation about this,” Hao said.
Nguyen Thi Tam, deputy general director of Bank for Technological and Commercial of Vietnam (Techcombank), said that after receiving the detailed guidance from the State Bank of Vietnam on specific procedures to support loan interest for corporate clients, the bank would hold a seminar to announce this to its corporate clients. “Loyal clients will get priority from Techcombank,” Tam said.
Almost all lenders shared a view that banks would bear great responsibility when joining the Government scheme and that they would be cautious in appraising which enterprises are eligible and which are not.
For the part of corporations, Tran Thien Hai of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers told the Daily that the decision to support enterprises was applauded but the approval process would take a long time while the scheme is effective until year-end.
* The central bank has said that monetary policies would be gradually relaxed this year to ensure the International Balance of Payments.
Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Giau told reporters in Hanoi on Monday that “Monetary markets will be monitored and relaxed based on the basis of flexibility and effectiveness to prevent a deficit the International Balance of Payments. However, there must be many standby methods in case of global financial market upheavals.”
He also said that the banking sector’s credit growth this year would be set at 3.2 to 3.5 times over gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Vietnam’s GDP growth this year is forecast at 6.5%.
Interest rates will be gradually cut based on the balance between banks’ mobilized capital and outstanding loans, Giau said, adding foreign exchange rates would also be governed by market demand and supply of U.S. dollars. (SGT)
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