A textile business in HCM City. Businesses have been applying for interest-free loans to make furlough and salary payments. (Photo: sggp.org.vn) The loans arepart of the Government’s latest relief package worth 26 trillion VND (1.13billion USD) for supporting workers and employers struggling to cope with thepandemic.
Around 7.5trillion VND will be used for interest-free loans for businesses to paysalaries.
Businesses canobtain a loan to pay workers who have contracts with compulsory social securitybut are furloughed for 15 consecutive days between May 1, 2021 and March 31next year.
They must nothave any bad debts to qualify for the loans, but do not need guarantees.
They are alsopermitted to borrow to pay workers to resume business.
This includesbusinesses instructed to close down temporarily as a COVID-19 preventivemeasure in that period, those in transportation, aviation, tourism, andhospitality, and others that send guest workers abroad.
The loans arefor up to 12 months.
Minister ofLabour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung promised that proceduresfor the relief package would be simplified and abbreviated as much as possible.
While lastyear the 62 trillion VND relief package took up to 40 days for businesses toget loans for work stoppage payment, now it should only take seven to 10 days,he assured.
Dr Vo Tri Thanh,a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, saidthe 26 trillion VND package would help businesses that retain their staff orwant them to return to work after the pandemic.
But Tran MinhPhi, Director of An Phi Construction and Design Co., Ltd., said many businessesare struggling to repay their bank loans due to the nearly two-year-longpandemic, and so many might not be able to meet the requirement of having nobad debts.
Dr Nguyen TriHieu, an economist and financial expert, agreed with Phi, saying therequirement should be scrapped to better support people working for businesseswith bad debts.
There could bepolicies to force businesses to prioritise repayment of this loan beforeothers, and businesses with debts overdue for 90-180 days could be given theloan, he added.
A continuingdrawback facing the programme is that like last time some businesses are notfully aware of the new relief package.
According tothe General Department of Statistics, in the first six months of the year70,200 businesses had to temporarily or permanently close down, a 22.1 percentincrease year-on-year.
There werenearly 1.2 million people of working age unemployed during the second quarter,up 7.8 percent from the first quarter, according to the Ministry of Labour,Invalids and Social Affairs./.
VNA
