Overview of the press conference (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is giving priority to developing the domesticmarket as the risk of COVID-19 gradually falls, Deputy Minister of Planning andInvestment Tran Quoc Phuong said at a press conference after the regularGovernment meeting on May 5.
Phuong said the ministry had come up with differenteconomic development scenarios and strategies to follow the development of thepandemic.
Policies must ensure effective diseaseprevention and economic development at the same time, he added.
The faster the country can overcome thepandemic, the quicker the economy will recover, Phuong said.
The Ministry of Planning and Investmentwill study opportunities to promote domestic economic development, which will requirechanges in the country’s economic structure as well as orientations ofenterprises, he noted.
Deputy Governor of the State Bank ofVietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong stressed the importance of rescheduling repaymentterms, exempting or reducing interest rates, and adjusting the ceiling interestrate for new loans to support businesses and people affected by the pandemic.
According to the central bank, the bankingsystem has rescheduled the repayment period for 170,746 customers with a loanbalance of 128.2 trillionVND (5.46 billion USD); exempted or reduced interestrates for 14,372 customers with debts worth 28.4 trillion VND; and reducedexisting loan interest rates from 0.5 to 2 percent for 318,528 customers with atotal loan balance of 980.1 trillion VND. Some credit institutions have even cuttheir interest rates by up to 4 percent per year, and offered new loans withpreferential interest rates 1-2 percent lower than the normal rates for 147,637customers with an accumulated value of 533 trillion VND from January 23.
Regarding difficulties facing businesses inaccessing loans, Hong said that the pandemic has also affected revenue atcredit institutions as they provide payment and banking services for other enterprises.
The SBV is taking measures to support affectedbusinesses and people and ensure the operation of credit institutions to avoid impactingthe economy, she added./.
VNA
