Reduce loan interest, do not rush to collect debt from businesses damaged after the storm

On September 12, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said that in Quang Ninh province, storm No. 3 caused damage to the infrastructure of most agencies, units, businesses and people in Quang Ninh province, especially in the areas where the storm passed through (Ha Long city, Cam, Pha, Uong Bi and Quang Yen town).

According to initial statistics of Quang Ninh province, up to now, 19,582 houses have had their roofs blown off; 21 water transport vehicles, 23 tourist boats, 41 fishing boats of all kinds have sunk or drifted; more than 1,000 oyster cages and rafts have been lost or swept away; 17,000 square meters of aquaculture facilities have had their roofs blown off; 912 hectares of rice have been flooded; 8,503 hectares of forest have been affected; many high-rise buildings, headquarters of agencies, schools, enterprises and business establishments have been damaged; the power system has been lost over a large area; communication has been interrupted and cannot be contacted, and has not yet been repaired. Among them, many units are customers currently borrowing capital from credit institutions in the area.

Through the quick grasp of banking units in the area, by the end of September 10, 2024, there were a total of 11,058 customers, with a total outstanding debt of VND 10,654 billion (accounting for 5.6% of the total outstanding debt in the entire Quang Ninh area) that were severely affected by the consequences of storm No. 3; some customers in the aquaculture sector were severely affected (lost their aquaculture rafts).

In particular, customers suffered losses by specific sectors and fields such as: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery: 6,270 customers; outstanding debt of VND 1,463 billion; Industry - Construction: 533 customers; outstanding debt of VND 5,243 billion; Trade and Service: 4,255 customers; outstanding debt of VND 3,948 billion.

In Hai Phong , Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Hai Phong City Branch, informed that it is estimated that the area recorded a total of 890 customers with a total outstanding debt of 15,686 billion VND affected after the storm. Damage caused by the storm also focused mainly on industries such as livestock, aquaculture, production, business and trade, ports, fishing vessels, etc.

On September 11, in Quang Ninh, the State Bank of Vietnam held a meeting to assess the damage to banks and customers in the two provinces of Quang Ninh and Hai Phong. Permanent Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu chaired the meeting.

The Deputy Governor said that the State Bank requires credit institutions to direct branches and transaction offices to proactively review and summarize the losses of customers who are borrowing capital to promptly apply support measures and remove difficulties for customers such as: restructuring debt repayment terms, considering interest rate exemptions and reductions, continuing to provide new loans to restore production and business after the storm according to current regulations...

The Deputy Governor requested that bank branches not collect debts by any means from damaged customers but must be flexible and create conditions for businesses to recover.

At the meeting, banks said they would issue credit packages with reasonable interest rates and reasonable scale to accompany people and businesses in recovering after the storm.

Sharing about financial solutions to help people cover and stabilize their lives after the impact of storms, a representative of the National Payment Company NAPAS suggested that using domestic credit cards is also a solution for people to quickly access official consumer credit sources from banks and financial companies.

Using a domestic credit card can help people spend first and pay later for urgent living expenses, with a long interest-free period of 45 to 55 days, effectively supporting customers with sudden financial needs, without having to resort to black credit loans with high interest rates.

According to the sharing, the card opening procedure is simple, the issuance and payment costs are low. Currently, NAPAS credit cards are issued by Vietnamese banks and financial companies including Agribank, VietinBank, Sacombank, ACB, NAB, HDBank, Vietbank, Baovietbank, VCCB, OCB, Viet A Bank and 4 financial companies including Vietcredit, FCCom, Mirae Asset, Mcredit. People can consider this solution.