In Hanoi, on March 13, 2018, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) cooperated with the World Bank (WB) to organize the Conference on financial products and services of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in order to provide general knowledge about IBRD’s loans as well as how to select IBRD’s loans on the basis of the assessment of cost and risks.
Attending the Conference were representatives from ministries, agencies, People’s Committees of provinces and cities, SBV entities and all implementers of WB’s programs and projects funded by IBRD and officers managing ODA projects of commercial banks, etc.
Speaking at the Conference, Mr. To Huy Vu, Director General of the International Cooperation Department, said that Vietnam was previously provided preferential products with favorable conditions by the WB. When Vietnam entered to the new period of development in the recent years to become a middle- income country, Vietnam can get access to new financial products and services of the WB and IBRD.
General Director To Huy Vu speaks at the Conference
IBRD financial products and services are different from preferential loans because their flexibility is higher, borrowers are given the rights to choose different conditions which are suitable for circumstances of the borrowing country. Although the interest rate and cost of the IBRD loans
may be higher than that of the preferential loans, it will promote growth and economic development of the borrowing country.
The SBV recognized that in the process of preparing for negotiation and formulating plan of borrowing from IBRD, ministries, agencies and authorities of provinces and cities are embarrassing in selecting the best conditions and terms suitable for each loan. Thus, this conference was organized to help ministries, agencies and authorities of provinces and cities get access more easily to IBRD loans, manage and utilize those loans more effectively.
WB specialists present at the Conference
At the Conference, specialists from the WB introduced and discussed with participants about following substances: the objectives of debt management, management of public debts and fiscal policy, the importance of debt portfolio component; cost and risks of public debts; strategy of debt management, pillars of the strategy of debt management; fixed and floating interest rate, LIBOR interest rate; articles and conditions of IBRD flexible loans, forms of debt payment, etc.
Le Hang