Hanoi (VNA) 🔯- Total loans in the national economy stood at nearly 12.6 quadrillion VND (525 billion USD) as of Septe♓mber 15, up 5.56% compared to the end of 2022, heard a conference to connect businesses and banks held by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Hanoi on September 21.

Speaking at the event, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong requested that credit institutions strictly implement instructions on rescheduling debt repayment, and comply with lending regulations to increase support for businesses. According to the governor, the banking sector is ready to implement measures to help address difficulties and supply credit demand to spur economic development.

Credit growth remains low

Hong said the ability of businesses to absorb capital still remains low, leading to slow credit growth. She underlined policy efforts made by the Government and the SBV since the beginning of the year, saying that a series of conferences and scientific workshops were organised to seek solutions to improve access to credit for a number of sectors and fields. Notably, 63 bank-business connection conferences were organized in localities across the country, demonstrating bank support for businesses and the economy, she said. Although the banking sector has implemented many solutions to improve the ability of businesses ability to absorb capital, businesses nationwide still face many difficulties in accessing credit loans, said Ha Thu Giang, Director of SBV’s Credit Department. She pointed out that the pressure on banking credit was immense because other capital-raising channels, such as the corporate bond and securities markets, were not very efficient. Representatives from businesses unanimously recognised that in recent times, credit institutions in general and the banking system in particular, have always been supportive partners for business activities. However, they also pointed out challenges in terms of credit accessibility, saying that this has caused difficulties for enterprises. Nguyen Thi Huyen Thuong, CEO of Nagakawa Group, said managing lending activities using a credit room sometimes causes difficulties for the business. Thuong said that banks need to continue to consider and issue policies to reduce and provide more preferential interest rates, and implement those soon to support businesses. According to Le Vinh Son, President of the Hanoi Association of Main Industrial Products (Hami), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encountered a lot of difficulties in borrowing money from banks, including complicated procedures and prolonged loan approval times. Banks should accelerate the application of technologies into their approval processes to shorten the average processing time to within one month for all loans, Son said. SBV Governor Hong requested relevant units to exert more effort to address difficulties for businesses while ensuring the safety of the financial system and exchange rates. For businesses, the governor emphasised that in the context of strong financial market fluctuations, businesses should proactively use exchange rate derivative tools provided by banks to mitigate risk. During the first nine months of this year, the SBV reduced interest rates four times by approximately 0.5-2% in total to support the economy./.