Vinh Phuc (VNA) - Together with State iﷺnvestment, capital from social policy credit has been one of the most important factors that help many people in the northern province of Vinh Phuc escape from poverty, stabilise their lives, and earn higher incomes in recent years, contributing to ensuring💟 social welfare.

Escaping from poverty with social policy loans

Luong Van Man and his family in Phan Lan Ha village, Dao Tru commune, Tam Dao district had been designated a poor household for many years. In 2010, thanks to a loan of 15 million VND (645 USD) from the district branch of the Bank for Social Policies, Man bought cattle and developed husbandry on his property. With assistance in techniques from local authorities, his cattle herd continue to grow. His family has now escaped from poverty, earn a stable income, and can repay their bank debt. In 2014, Man borrowed an additional 50 million VND from the Bank for Social Policies to invest in a cultivation and husbandry farm on around 2 ha. He now has around 300 Dien pomelo trees, 100 orange trees, 120 longan trees, and 300 jackfruit trees, which earn him hundreds of millions of VND each year. His family then moved into the “well-off” category, employing three regular workers with an average income of 4.5 million VND a month, as well as six seasonal workers. With a loan for households that have recently escaped from poverty, Nguyen Xuan Luong in Trai Gieng village, Thanh Van commune, Tam Duong district now has a farm and earns hundreds of millions of VND a year. In 2014, he said, his family received a loan from the district branch of the Bank for Social Policies to raise buffalo. After clearing their debts, like many other families they then lacked capital to reinvest in and expand production. With assistance from the local Farmers’ Association and Saving Group, Luong borrowed a further 80 million VND to invest in his farm and expand his husbandry efforts. Along with cattle, Luong’s family is now also raising over 1,000 hens. Life is more stable, and he was able to build a spacious home.

Striving for sustainable poverty reduction

In addition to Man and Luong’s families, hundreds of thousands of others in Vinh Phuc have gained access to low-interest loans from the Bank of Social Policies to invest in cultivation, husbandry, and trade and services, and have escaped from poverty. The provincial Bank for Social Policies is currently carrying out 15 social credit programmes. As of late June, nearly 80,000 poor households and policy beneficiaries had accessed preferential loans guaranteed by socio-political organisations totalling 2.79 trillion VND. Ta Ngoc Thao, Deputy Director of the provincial bank branch, said that, at present, Vinh Phuc has 2,306 Saving Groups operating at 137 transaction points at the commune, ward, and town levels, and is providing loans through four socio-political organisations. Following the province’s sustainable poverty reduction policy, the bank has focused resources on helping poor households and other policy beneficiaries approach preferential loans. In the first half of 2020, despite the problems presented by COVID-19, the bank gave loans to 16,226 poor households, near-poor households, and those recently escaping from poverty. Overdue debts in policy credit programmes at banks have fallen to 0.31 percent of total outstanding loans. To increase the efficiency of preferential lending, the bank has carried out a range of measures to simplify procedures, maintain and increase the quality of fixed monthly transactions, and create the most favourable conditions for local people. It has also paid attention to raising the effectiveness of monitoring and resolving overdue debts, consolidating the operations of Saving Groups, and increasing the quality of credit, so as to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and job generation while ensuring social welfare./.