"At Agribank, we are currently mobilizing 100 VND in deposits but only lending out more than 80 VND, although since the beginning of 2024, Agribank has proactively adjusted lending interest rates down, implementing credit programs of more than 120,000 billion VND with lending interest rates 2.5-3% lower than normal interest rates to encourage and support customers," said Mr. An, adding that Agribank's income in the first two months of 2024 decreased by nearly 1,200 billion VND compared to the same period in 2023. According to Mr. An, entering 2024, the international situation is still gray, complicated, unpredictable, leading to many consequences. Besides, many major economies are still facing difficulties in growth as well as controlling inflation, even showing signs of recession such as the UK and Japan. This is negatively affecting the production and business activities of domestic enterprises. Mr. An added that although the mobilization interest rate has decreased significantly, deposits continue to flow into the banking system, the demand for capital has decreased because the demand for production and consumption of goods has not improved, so capital is becoming redundant at many commercial banks, increasing the interest payment costs of commercial banks.

Mr. Pham Duc An, Chairman of the Board of Members of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank). (Photo: VGP)

In addition, the chairman of Agribank also said that by the end of 2023, Agribank's total assets will be over 2 million billion VND, capital mobilization will reach 1 million 885 trillion VND and outstanding loans will be 1 million 550 trillion VND, of which outstanding loans to the agricultural, rural and farmer sectors will reach nearly 65%.

In the coming time, Agribank will proactively continue to balance to strive to continue reducing lending interest rates, restructuring debts to support customers, especially businesses; improve and simplify lending procedures and processes to improve access to bank credit capital.

At the same time, proactively and flexibly deploy many solutions to effectively promote credit growth associated with controlling and improving credit quality, directing credit flows to production and business sectors, priority sectors, and enterprises serving the growth drivers of the economy.

From these realities, the chairman of Agribank proposed shifting from behavioral management to target management.

Firstly, Mr. An proposed that the problems and shortcomings in mechanisms, policies, and barriers related to responsibility and public ethics need to continue to be clarified and specific solutions must be found so that businesses can confidently and boldly break through to develop.

Second, in the current conditions, fiscal policies, especially public investment and business support, are the key to stimulating production and consumption, thereby increasing capital demand and commercial bank capital becoming more effective. The government needs to implement solutions to encourage and support businesses to make green transformations to meet international trends and standards.

Third, if state-owned enterprises dare to think and act, the mechanism for managing capital invested in state-owned enterprises as well as their operations needs to be reformed soon, including increasing autonomy for state-owned enterprises in the spirit of shifting behavior management to target management, strengthening monitoring, detecting, warning and handling violations early to prevent and minimize damage.

Regarding the targets assigned to state-owned enterprises, it is necessary to specify them for each type and each specific enterprise, especially the ability to master technology and produce import-substituting goods with high added value, avoiding simply assigning business growth and profit targets. The mechanism for appointing and dismissing officials in state-owned enterprises also needs to be thoroughly reformed.