A working delegation of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and commercial banks led by SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu recently visited Quang Ninh province to assess the damage caused by storm No.

Informing the working group, Ms. Ngo Thi Thuy (Thong Nhat 2 Quarter, Tan An Commune, Quang Yen Town, Quang Ninh Province) said that her family invested in 60 fish cages in Cam Pha, 45 fish cages in Giang Wharf. Each cage has about 500 fish. After a stormy night, all that remained were a few small fish kept in the cages, causing a loss of up to 12 billion VND.

The family currently owes Agribank 4 billion VND to invest in fish rafts. Ms. Thuy said the family only hopes the bank will postpone, extend the debt and give them a new loan so they can restore production.

“If the bank trusts us and lends us money to quickly buy baby fish and release them in time, in just 2 years, we can recover and have money to pay off the bank loan,” said Ms. Thuy.

Mr. Vu Van Cuong (in Zone 3, Tan An Commune, Quang Yen Town) said: “My family’s three fish rafts suffered a loss of nearly 14 billion VND, and the houses next door suffered a loss of 20-30 billion VND. If the bank seizes the debt now, we don’t know what to do. We just hope the bank will postpone the debt, extend the debt, and lend people money to rebuild.”

According to Mr. Le Hoang Tung, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, it is estimated that nearly 6,000 customers were affected, with a total outstanding debt of about 71,000 billion VND. In Hai Phong and Quang Ninh alone, 230 customers were affected, with a total outstanding debt of about 13,300 billion VND.

To support and accompany people and businesses to overcome difficulties, Vietcombank has considered reducing interest rates by 0.5% in the period from September 6 to December 31, 2024 for customers borrowing capital for production and business, with outstanding loans of about VND 130,000 billion. The number of customers receiving interest rate reduction is nearly 20,000 customers.

The interest rate reduction program applies to existing and new loans to create conditions for businesses and people to stabilize production, stabilize their lives and access bank credit capital.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien, Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Quang Ninh Branch, said that by the end of September 10, a total of 11,058 customers in the province (with a total outstanding debt of VND 10,654 billion) were severely affected by the consequences of storm No. 3, accounting for 5.6% of the total outstanding debt of the whole province. Notably, the heavy damage was caused to some customers whose aquaculture rafts were washed away by the waves.

Loan customers in Quang Ninh who suffered losses by industry and sector include: agriculture, forestry and fishery with 6,270 customers, outstanding debt of VND 1,463 billion; industry - construction with 533 customers, outstanding debt of VND 5,243 billion; trade and services with 4,255 customers, outstanding debt of VND 3,948 billion.

Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu assessed that many customers and businesses suffered losses without the ability to repay debts and almost lost all their assets, with no source of compensation. This is a major problem for all levels and sectors, especially the banking sector.

“There needs to be timely and appropriate policies to ensure immediate and long-term needs are met, contributing to stabilizing life and overcoming the consequences of the storm,” the Deputy Governor directed.