Banking industry contributes to supporting businesses

The wood industry is greatly affected by the new reciprocal tax policy of the US Government. In the photo: Wood production activities at a business in Bac Tan Uyen district

Businesses worry about goods losing competitiveness

Although the US government has suspended reciprocal tariffs for 90 days on more than 75 countries, including Vietnam, businesses exporting to this market are still concerned that Vietnamese goods will lose competitiveness compared to products from other countries. A representative of ViFood Trading and Service Company Limited said that currently, Vietnam's main export items to the US market such as wood, footwear, agricultural products, seafood, phones, and fruits bring great value. If the 46% tax on these items increases, customers in the US will turn to buy goods from Thailand or other countries.

For the textile and garment industry in Binh Duong province, the United States is currently a market that accounts for 40% of export output. The problem of maintaining export output to the market becomes difficult if it has to bear the new 46% reciprocal tax rate. Meanwhile, according to the Binh Duong Wood Processing Association, in recent years, wooden furniture products have enjoyed a 0% tax when entering the US market, and this time the imposition of a tax rate of up to 46% has caused difficulties for both exporting enterprises and consumers. This could lead to a stagnation of orders, affecting the entire supply chain.

"The association and its member enterprises are looking for solutions to cope. The optimal solution that wood industry enterprises are implementing is to continue diversifying export markets and consolidating their position in the domestic market to increase their resilience to the trend of trade protectionism of other countries," said Mr. Nguyen Liem, Chairman of the Binh Duong Wood Processing Association.

Realize the 500,000 billion VND credit package soon

Recently, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) held a meeting to implement the Government's directive on lending to enterprises investing in infrastructure and digital technology. At the meeting, SBV leaders emphasized the readiness of capital sources for lending to priority customers, while proactively having support policies for customers affected by the new tax policy of the US Government. In cases affected by the US Government's counterpart tax, some banks proposed that there should be a debt restructuring mechanism, maintaining the debt group, and waiving interest rates and fees to share difficulties with customers. Ms. Phung Thi Binh, Deputy General Director of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), said that the bank is ready to support enterprises in terms of interest rates, but it is necessary to clarify the responsibility in lending so that banks can boldly implement the enterprise support package.

Regarding the current difficulties and challenges of enterprises, especially the impact of the new tax policy of the United States, Mr. Dao Minh Tu, Permanent Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said that the implementation of the VND500,000 billion credit package and policies to support enterprises is very timely. To effectively implement this credit package, Mr. Dao Minh Tu requested that in the coming time, banks proactively calculate and balance resources to support enterprises, and promptly submit documents to register to participate in the credit program. Banks should base on the list of key projects to identify the right lending subjects, consider and appraise projects according to regulations.

Regarding lending interest rates, banks need to proactively determine and publicize the applicable interest rates and interest calculation methods for customers borrowing capital under the Credit Program in each period, in the spirit of supporting business customers to reduce capital costs. Regarding the preferential application period, banks proactively determine the application period, in harmony with the lending period to ensure the supportive nature of the Credit Program...

With the determination of the entire banking industry, the VND500,000 billion credit package is expected to contribute to creating momentum for business development, contributing to the overall development of the national economy in the current context.

THANH HONG

Source: https://baobinhduong.vn/nganh-ngan-hang-gop-suc-ho-tro-doanh-nghiep-a345312.html