The Government agrees to propose establishing a national housing fund.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc meets with ministries and branches on studying the establishment of a National Housing Development Fund - Photo: VGP

On the afternoon of April 21, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc chaired a meeting with ministries and branches on studying the establishment of a National Housing Development Fund.

Deputy Minister of Finance Ho Sy Hung said that the ministry is researching a suitable fund or financial institution model to develop long-term and sustainable social housing.

The Ministry of Construction is studying the establishment of a state-owned enterprise specializing in investing in social housing development. Although there are financial institutions and preferential lending policies, capital sources remain a major bottleneck.

Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposed to utilize existing financial institutions instead of establishing new ones, and recommended that the central and local governments prioritize resources and support the expansion of lending activities for social housing development.

The draft Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting a special mechanism for national social housing development is being reported to the National Assembly Standing Committee, expected to stipulate the establishment of a National Housing Development Fund to carry out three tasks including compensation and resettlement support; infrastructure investment; and support for businesses and beneficiaries of social housing policies.

The Government will be assigned to specify the details of the fund's operating model, legal status and annual budget source.

Deputy Minister Ho Sy Hung said there are still many problems because current laws do not allow flexible use of public investment capital or regular funds for compensation, resettlement, and infrastructure investment outside the scope of the project.

In addition, supporting social housing projects for rent and hire-purchase is also difficult due to the lack of a National Housing Development Fund or appropriate financial institutions.

The Ministry of Finance proposed two options on financial mechanisms to support social housing development and orientation to establish a National Housing Development Fund.

Option 1 is to establish a fund to perform all three functions as being submitted to the National Assembly. Option 2 is to study the establishment of a fund or organization for housing development, focusing on investing in social housing for rent and hire-purchase. Of which, the Ministry of Finance recommends choosing option 2.

At the meeting, representatives of ministries and branches discussed the political, legal and practical basis for establishing the fund; at the same time, discussed the functions, tasks, organizational model, scale, service objects, governing body and resources for the fund to operate effectively and in accordance with its objectives.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh emphasized that developing social housing is a social policy, the responsibility of which belongs to the State, and establishing the Fund is a specific solution to promote implementation.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu requested clarification of resources, beneficiaries and fund management methods. He said that the VND120,000 billion credit package to support social housing is not effective due to policy mechanisms, not necessarily due to lack of resources, and that it is necessary to properly assess the supply-demand situation.

Photo: VGP

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that the fund was unified with the name "National Housing Development Fund", a non-budgetary state fund that does not overlap with the state budget expenditure task.

The fund's budget is expected to be mobilized from the state budget, voluntary contributions from domestic and foreign investors, revenue from 20% land fund in commercial projects, individual organizations and other legal sources.

The main function of the Fund is to invest in the development of social housing, housing for workers, and housing for people under 35 years old. The Fund is organized at two levels, the central level is managed by the Ministry of Construction and the local level is managed by the Provincial People's Committee.

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to complete the project and draft decree to submit to competent authorities for consideration.

According to thesaigontimes.vn

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/chinh-phu-thong-nhat-de-xuat-lap-quy-nha-o-quoc-gia-246419.htm