Banks cut interest rates for borrowers affected by COVID-19
Banks cut interest rates for loans worth more than 1.12 quadrillion VND (49 billion USD) of nearly 322,190 borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as of May 11, a State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) report showed.
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Banks cut interestrates for loans worth more than 1.12 quadrillion VND (49billion USD) of nearly 322,190 borrowers affected by the COVID-19pandemic as of May 11, a State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) report showed.
The banksalso extended debt payment deadlines for another 215,136 borrowers with totalloans of nearly 137.94 trillion VND.
New outstandingloans totalling nearly 600 trillion VND with interest rate reductions of 0.5-2.5 percentage points per year were alsooffered to nearly 190,000 borrowers.
Of thetotal, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies extended the debt payment deadlinefor 3.65 trillion VND in loans of 141,909borrowers and offered new preferential interest rate loans of 21.2 trillion VND to519,342 borrowers.
The SBV hasalso transferred 16 trillion VND to the Vietnam Bankfor Social Policies, so employers can borrow non-collateral loans with a zeropercent interest rate to pay salaries to their employees who have beenfurloughed due to COVID-19. To apply for non-collateral and zero percentinterest rate loans, employers must seek confirmation from local authorities.
According toSBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu,it could take years to handle the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Henoted that many sectors, especially transport, tourism, imports andexports, will encounter both direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.
From theoutset of the pandemic, the country’s banking sector has actively taken stepsto evaluate it, predicted its impact and rolled out urgent measures to supportaffected enterprises and local residents.
The SBV in early March issued Circular No 1 and Directive No2, guiding credit institutions to reschedule debts, waive or reduce lendingrates and fees for loans and offer new loans to projects and enterprises thatneed further capital to maintain or resume their operations amid the socialdistancing period to stem the spread of the virus.
In addition,online payment services and cashless transactions have been promoted to assistpeople during the social-distancing time. The SBVand credit institutions have also waived and reduced payment fees to supportpeople and businesses, up to a total value of some 1 trillion VND./.
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Transactions at HD Bank (Source: VNA) 
