Banks lend to agriculture at lower interest rates than deposits

Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that the total outstanding loans for the agricultural and rural sector under Decree 55 reached VND345,581 billion - Photo: AH

Mr. Hoang Minh Ngoc, Deputy General Director of Agribank, revealed the agricultural loan package with "unbelievably" low interest rates at the Dialogue Conference connecting banks and enterprises, cooperatives, and agricultural production and business households in Ho Chi Minh City today, October 17.

Banks do not lack capital, and interest rates are cheap.

The conference was organized by the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ho Chi Minh City in coordination with Agribank.

Specifically, Mr. Hoang Minh Ngoc said that since the beginning of the year, Agribank has launched 6 preferential credit packages for businesses.

In particular, the special credit package for businesses with a scale of 20,000 billion VND has an interest rate of 2.6%/year for a term of less than 3 months. Businesses in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, processing, and import of raw materials can access capital with this very preferential interest rate.

In addition, Agribank also launched a VND50,000 billion credit package for the development of high-tech agriculture and clean agriculture, with interest rates reduced from 0.5% to 1.5% for customers participating in the clean agricultural production chain.

"There are credit packages with interest rates starting from only 2.6%/year at Agribank, so we hope that businesses, business households, and cooperatives can learn about and connect. We do not lack capital and can meet all capital needs of businesses, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, the key economic region of the country," Mr. Hoang Minh Ngoc affirmed.

Outstanding loans for agriculture and rural areas reached 345,581 billion VND

Mr. Lam Ngoc Tuan, director of Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative, spoke at the conference - Photo: AH

According to a survey, the interest rate of 2.6%/year at Agribank is lower than the interest rate of the same term at some joint stock banks. For example, Sacombank is mobilizing terms from 1 month to less than 2 months with an interest rate of 2.8%/year, terms from 2 months to less than 3 months with an interest rate of 2.9%/year.

Also at the conference, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that the credit system in the area has recently met the capital needs for agricultural production development programs, agricultural restructuring and new rural construction.

To date, the total outstanding loans for the agricultural and rural sector under Decree 55 have reached VND345,581 billion, with 2.01 million customers. Compared to the end of last year, this figure increased by 2%, of which loans from individuals and business households reached VND115,991 billion, accounting for 33.5% of the total outstanding loans.

Mr. Lam Ngoc Tuan, director of Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative in Thu Duc City, which specializes in producing high-quality, high-value vegetables and fruits, said that current preferential loans basically meet production needs and the cooperative's desire to receive more capital to promote automation in production.

"Currently, the preferential interest rate of Agribank branch 9 that the cooperative is enjoying is 8%/year for medium and long-term loans. This is a very reasonable interest rate for us.

In the near future, we hope that with Resolution 98, the State Bank, especially Agribank, can create more preferential loans so that we can invest in high-tech agriculture, especially in the field of automatic machinery," said Mr. Tuan.

According to statistics, in 5 suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh City, there are currently over 500,000 households with 2 million people living, of which about 50,000 households are engaged in agricultural production.

Therefore, to shift the structure of rural agriculture in the area according to the city's orientation of developing high-tech agriculture, clean agriculture, urban agriculture and building new rural areas, bank credit capital is very important.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngan-hang-cho-vay-nong-nghiep-voi-lai-suat-thap-hon-ca-huy-dong-20241017185642594.htm