Lending interest rates drop sharply after storm number 3

Immediately reduce loan interest rates from 0.5-2%/year

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction in Official Dispatch No. 92/CD-TTg dated September 10 on overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has directed commercial banks to proactively review and summarize the losses of customers who are borrowing capital, promptly apply policies to support interest rates, defer debt, and continue lending so that people and businesses have conditions to restore production and business.

Among commercial banks, Agribank is the leading bank in providing credit to agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the sector most vulnerable to natural disasters.

Ms. Phung Thi Binh, Deputy General Director of Agribank, said that the bank has directed branches to implement solutions to support customers such as interest exemption and reduction, debt restructuring, and continuing to provide new loans to restore production and business activities.

According to initial statistics, up to now, Agribank has more than 12 thousand customers with outstanding loans of about 21 thousand billion VND affected by storm No. 3 and the floods after the storm. Some localities still have power outages, traffic is cut off and communication is not possible, so the bank continues to count the damage.

“Agribank is calculating the extent of damage to customers to find appropriate solutions. It is expected that next week, the bank will reduce lending interest rates for customers affected by the storm, with a reduction of 0.5-2%/year compared to the current interest rate,” Ms. Phung Thi Binh informed.

w athdtjyg 3939.jpg — *A restaurant in Ha Long City (Quang Ninh Province) suffered damage caused by storm No. 3, estimated at about 3 billion VND. Photo: Pham Cong.*

According to Mr. Le Hoang Tung, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, statistics show that nearly 6,000 Vietcombank customers were affected with a total outstanding debt of about 71,000 billion VND. Of which, in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh alone, 230 customers were affected, with a total outstanding debt of about 13,300 billion VND.

“Vietcombank has considered reducing interest rates by 0.5% per year from September 6 to December 31 for customers borrowing capital for production and business purposes; with an outstanding loan balance of about VND130 trillion, nearly 20,000 customers will benefit. This program applies to both existing and new loans,” said Mr. Tung.

BIDV and VietinBank are also assessing the level of damage to each customer to have plans to restructure debt, extend debt, reduce interest,... issue credit packages with reasonable interest rates and scales to accompany people and businesses to recover after the storm.

Private banks also strongly reduce interest rates

For joint stock commercial banks, VPBank announced a 1%/year reduction in lending interest rates for medium and long-term loans and a 0.5%/year reduction in short-term loan interest rates from September 13 to December 31 for individual customers with collateral at the bank affected by storm No. 3.

This bank also adjusted the preferential interest rate from 6.5%/year fixed for the first 12 months for all customers who need to repay their debts early at other banks, or borrow to buy real estate, or borrow to build and repair houses.

MSB and Eximbank banks also announced a 1%/year reduction in loan interest rates for SMEs and business households affected by storms and floods.

For medium and long-term loans, Eximbank waives interest for the first 2 months; offers a fixed interest rate of 7.49%/year for the next 10 months.

Even for micro-enterprises (MSMEs) and individual customers, Eximbank reduces 2%/year compared to the normal interest rate.

At TPBank, the bank said it will reduce the current interest payments by up to 50%. The program will be applied from now until the end of October, with an expected limit of about VND2,000 billion.

At a meeting with leaders of commercial banks after storm No. 3, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu requested commercial banks to quickly review each customer case, clarify the extent of damage, and understand the wishes and suggestions of customers.

At the same time, become a support for businesses, do not collect debts by any means but be flexible, demonstrate shared responsibility, create conditions for businesses to recover. With their authority, branches should consider supporting interest rate reduction for customers, boldly lend to help businesses reproduce, do business, recover...