Hoa Binh: Creating public trust in policy credit

According to the Social Policy Bank, Hoa Binh branch, after 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW, dated November 22, 2014 of the Secretariat on "Strengthening the Party's leadership in social policy credit work", over VND 14,153 billion has been disbursed with more than 684,200 poor households, near-poor households and other policy beneficiaries receiving loans.

Under the close and drastic leadership and direction of Party committees and authorities at all levels, together with the participation of the entire political system, social policy credit capital has been promptly transferred to beneficiaries, covering 100% of villages, hamlets and villages in the province and has increasingly promoted its effectiveness and efficiency, contributing to rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, job creation, pushing back black credit, improving people's lives, ensuring social security, building new rural areas, and well implementing the targets, tasks and socio-economic development plans annually and in each period. That is the assessment of the Hoa Binh Provincial Party Committee in the summary report of 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40-CT/TW, dated November 22, 2014 of the Secretariat on "Strengthening the Party's leadership in social policy credit work" in the province.

Mr. Ngo Ngoc Hai shares about his family's grapefruit growing model with the staff of the People's Credit Fund.

Sharing more about the results of implementing Directive No. 40, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung - Director of the Social Policy Bank, Hoa Binh branch said: Social policy credit activities always receive direction from the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee. "In general, social policy credit receives attention from the entire political system in the province," Mr. Hung shared. This attention is concretized by the province's own policies such as the Provincial People's Council issuing a Resolution regulating the loan support policy for workers in Hoa Binh province working abroad under contracts, period 2023-2026. The implementation funding comes from the local budget entrusted through the Social Policy Bank, provincial branch. With this regulation, workers who are not from poor households and ethnic minority households are all eligible to borrow capital to work abroad. In particular, although budget revenue is not high, every year the province allocates 50 billion VND to the branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to lend for social policy credit programs.

Perhaps when going to the grassroots level, we can feel the effectiveness of Directive No. 40 most clearly, including Tan Lac district. Mr. Le Chi Huyen - Vice Chairman of Tan Lac district said that for a mountainous district with 85% of the population being Muong ethnic people, with difficult socio-economic conditions and low budget revenue, preferential credit sources from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies play a very important role.

“We highly appreciate the activities of the Social Policy Bank in carrying out political tasks, contributing to ensuring social security in the locality. In particular, when Directive No. 40 was issued, the local Party Committee and government immediately took action. Tan Lac District also issued directives and propaganda documents to Party Committees and Party members and brought about many results,” Mr. Huyen affirmed and shared that after 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40, two outstanding points can be clearly seen. One is the poverty reduction rate over the years, in 2024 alone the target was to reduce it from 9.4 to 7%, but the preliminary results so far have reduced it by 6.8% - exceeding the target. Second, previously, the district had 10 communes in extremely difficult areas, but now there are only 5 communes.

Transaction point of the People's Credit Fund in Tu Ne commune

In particular, when implementing Directive No. 40, the District People's Committee advised the District Party Committee to issue a specialized Resolution on entrusting local budgets to the VBSP for lending. Local budget capital transferred to the VBSP has increased year by year and the target by 2030 is to reach about 40 billion VND. According to Mr. Huyen, this is the district's effort, because 40 billion VND is exactly equal to the district's budget revenue in 1 year.

When receiving attention from the provincial to district levels, the people are the ones who benefit the most. Social policy credit capital has spread throughout the villages, helping people escape poverty through many production models. As a native of Nam Dinh province who came to build a new economy in the mountainous areas of Hoa Binh, at first he encountered many difficulties, but with his will, determination and preferential capital, Mr. Ngo Ngoc Hai's family, in hamlet 1, Tu Ne commune, through many rounds of borrowing from the Social Policy Bank, has built a grapefruit garden of nearly 200 trees. Every season, traders come to buy, bringing in a steady annual income of about 200 million VND. Currently, his family still has an outstanding debt of 40 million VND from the Social Policy Bank for job creation and 20 million VND in loans for the clean water and rural environmental sanitation program.

Or in the highland commune of Quyet Chien, preferential capital has helped people promote their strengths in growing chayote. Meeting us, Mr. Dinh Cong Nhu and his wife, Mrs. Bui Thi Ngoan, Muong people, in Bien hamlet, could not hide their joy. Mr. Nhu happily boasted: In 2023, the family was able to borrow 100 million VND from the Social Policy Bank for the newly escaped poverty program to expand the chayote area and buy 3 more breeding pigs and 2 sows. So far, the results have been clearly seen! The cows have had calves, and the pigs have increased by 10. The income from selling chayote is also 70 million VND per year.

Seeing the achievements of the members who borrowed capital, Mr. Bui Van Toan - Chairman of the Veterans Association of Quyet Thang commune shared that people in the highland commune mainly grow chayote and have traders coming to buy it, so it is also convenient, providing stable income and improving people's lives. The outstanding loan balance of the VBSP of the Veterans Association currently reaches 4.46 billion VND, the number of members escaping poverty is increasing day by day, in 2024 alone, it is expected that about 2-3 more households will escape poverty.

Mr. Dinh Cong Nhu's family's chayote garden brings a steady annual income to the family.

According to the Hoa Binh Social Policy Bank, after 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40, over VND 14,153 billion has been disbursed with over 684,200 poor households, near-poor households and other policy beneficiaries receiving loans; debt collection of over VND 9,193.5 billion. By June 30, 2024, the total outstanding debt of policy credit programs reached VND 5,096.7 billion; an increase of VND 3,233.6 billion (2.8 times higher) than before Directive No. 40, the average annual growth rate of outstanding debt of policy credit programs reached about 17%. In the province, there are more than 102,251 poor households and policy beneficiaries with outstanding debt, accounting for 46.2% of the total number of households in the area and accounting for 12.6% of the total outstanding credit of the entire banking sector in the province; Of which, the outstanding debt of ethnic minority households reached 4,183 billion VND, accounting for 82.83% of the total outstanding debt, with 84.4 thousand households borrowing capital, an average of nearly 50 million VND per household borrowing.

Policy credit capital has helped over 125,400 households overcome the poverty line, created jobs for over 65,900 workers, helped 1,624 workers go to work abroad for a limited period, supported over 31,900 students to borrow capital to cover their study expenses, contributing to reducing the poverty rate in the province: 2011-2015 period from 31.51% to 12.26%; 2016-present period from 24.38% to 9.2%.

Sharing the secret to achieving the above success, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung said, we always closely follow the socio-economic development policies of the province; social policy credit capital has been promptly transferred to beneficiaries, focusing on lending to poor areas, key areas, and new rural construction to fulfill annual plans and goals. When the bank has done its job well and always received support from socio-political organizations and people, the effectiveness will be multiplied. "The bank is lending to more than 102 thousand customers, but for many years, people have not had any feedback, which is a joy for us," Mr. Hung shared.

The continuous consolidation and improvement of the quality at transaction points is one of the successes of the Hoa Binh Social Policy Bank. The operations of 151 transaction points at commune-level administrative units are increasingly stable, orderly and effective, highly appreciated by the people, local authorities, socio-political organizations, agencies, departments and branches, a step forward in administrative procedure reform and a unique feature of the Social Policy Bank, demonstrating the spirit of service and responsibility of the Social Policy Bank staff towards the poor and other policy beneficiaries. Thereby, creating people's trust in the policies of the Party, the Government and social policy credit activities.

According to the Hoa Binh branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, by the end of June 2024, the local capital entrusted through the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies at all levels reached 201.6 billion VND, accounting for 4% of the total capital; an increase of 195.6 billion VND, 32.2 times higher than before Directive No. 40. Of which, the capital entrusted at the provincial level was 76.16 billion VND, the capital entrusted at the district level was 125.4 billion VND, with an average of over 14.8 billion VND transferred by each district-level unit.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/hoa-binh-tao-long-tin-nhan-dan-doi-voi-tin-dung-chinh-sach-158254.html