Credit "lifebuoy" for people and businesses in flood-affected areas

VTV.vn - Debt deferral and interest rate reduction and exemption are considered urgent measures to help people and businesses overcome heavy damage caused by storms and floods.

Rain and floods cause economic damage of more than 33,500 billion VND

The rain and floods have left behind serious consequences. A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shows that more than 555,000 hectares of rice, crops, and plants have been flooded. Not to mention the damage to vehicles and factories that have not been fully counted. The total economic loss is estimated at over 33,500 billion VND.

In order to overcome the consequences of the storm, the Prime Minister has asked the State Bank to direct banks to implement credit policies for organizations, individuals and businesses that suffered losses to restore production and business and stabilize people's livelihoods.

The rain and floods have left serious consequences.

Interest rate reduction for customers affected by rain and floods

According to VTV reporters, in Thai Nguyen - the locality that suffered the heaviest damage from storm No. 11 with total damage up to 4,000 billion VND, the implementation of loan support has been initially carried out.

At a transport company, cars, factories, offices, petrol storage areas… were all affected, causing damage of about 30 billion VND. To repair and restore operations, the company will need a large amount of capital.

"The most important thing is that banks promptly support interest rates for businesses to stabilize them during difficult times. This is a very important sharing," said Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - General Director of Ha Lan Trade and Tourism Joint Stock Company.

Representatives of many banks said they are urgently working with businesses to find suitable support solutions. In addition to reducing interest rates on existing loans, banks also have policies to reduce interest rates on new loans, depending on the needs and business plans of businesses.

Mr. Bui Trung Dung - Deputy Director of Agribank Thai Nguyen branch said: "Currently, there are 1,000 customers with outstanding debt of over 3,000 billion VND affected by the storm. We reduce interest rates by up to 2% for customers with existing outstanding debt affected by the storm. In addition, we restructure debt and provide new loans with preferential interest rates to support customers."

Mr. Duong Xuan Khuong - Director of Loc Phat Bank Thai Nguyen branch also said: "According to initial preliminary statistics, there are hundreds of customers with hundreds of billions of outstanding debt affected. It is expected to reduce interest rates by 2% for existing customers and 6.5% for new borrowers so that they have resources to reproduce."

The State Bank also requires bank branches and transaction offices in affected localities to proactively review and assess the situation of customers borrowing capital to apply support measures and promptly resolve difficulties, not letting people and businesses fall into a deadlock due to lack of capital.

Proposal to extend, postpone, and restructure debt repayment period

Currently, the banking industry has not yet fully counted the outstanding loans of customers who are affected. However, with the losses, it will take some time to restore production and business activities.

Therefore, in addition to reducing interest rates, many opinions also believe that commercial banks need to strengthen the implementation of debt restructuring measures, debt extension and deferral. This is considered a "lifebuoy" to help borrowers have more time to wait, overcome the consequences of storms and floods and start a new production and business cycle.

Commercial banks need to strengthen the implementation of measures to restructure debt repayment time, extend and postpone debt. Illustrative photo.

At Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative, nearly 200 tons of vermicelli are the result of 4 months of labor by workers to prepare for the upcoming Tet holiday. But now, their efforts have been washed away by the floodwaters.

Soaked in water, so it is impossible to liquidate to recover capital. The machinery is damaged, there is no more raw material powder for production. The math cooperative will need at least a few months to be able to produce again. Although not producing, during this time it still has to pay interest on the bank loan. With more than ten billion VND in loan capital, if the debt is not extended, the business does not know where to get the source to pay interest.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ba ​​- Director of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative expressed: "With this situation, the cooperative hopes that the bank can postpone the interest for 1 year. Because the winter-spring production season has not yet arrived. When the damage is so severe like this, it will take time to start production and have money to pay off the debt."

Prolonged flooding has caused agriculture to be a major impact. Meanwhile, agricultural products are seasonal. Farmers have to wait for the planting season. Businesses have to wait for the harvest to have raw materials for production.

"With the estimated damage of about 130 billion VND, we request that banks support interest rate reduction for people, or not collect interest for a few months from people," said Mr. Nguyen Van Quang - Chairman of Nam Hoa Commune People's Committee, Thai Nguyen province.

Restructuring the repayment period depends on many factors, depending on each loan. Normally, banks will base on the production and business cycle and the customer's repayment source, usually not exceeding 12 months.

Mr. Le Quang Huy - Director of State Bank Region 5 informed: "We are directing banks in the area to proactively restructure debt repayment terms for customers, implement measures to reduce interest, waive interest as well as fees...".

More importantly, if debt is extended or postponed, borrowers will not be put into the bad debt group and will have access to new loans and cash flow to start a new production cycle.

Currently, only a few banks have introduced capital support policies, with specific interest rate reductions. The rest are still reviewing and making statistics before announcing detailed plans. Therefore, banks also need to speed up this process, to provide timely support and stabilize production and business.

Source: https://vtv.vn/chiec-phao-tin-dung-cho-nguoi-dan-doanh-nghiep-vung-lu-100251015065546025.htm