On August 26, 2022, in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam organized a virtual Conference to disseminate information, answer relevant questions and remove the difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing the interest rate support program according to Decree No. 31/2022/ND-CP. The Conference was chaired by SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong emphasized that, the 2% interest rate support program with the total amount of VND 40,000 billion from the State budget has reflected the special attention of the Party, the State, the National Assembly and the Government in removing the difficulties for businesses and the people. This program has received great attention of various leaderships, enterprises, cooperatives, household businesses, and the people.
At the Conference, several SBV municipal and provincial branches, commercial banks directly engaged in the implementation of the 2% interest rate support program provided a lot of practical comments. Those comments illustrated the strong engagement of the various entities in the banking industry. In addition, the comments of the Ministries and agencies clearly explained the difficulties, as well as the additional points that need to be jointly reviewed and addressed. The representatives of several Ministries and agencies also showed their willingness to coordinate with the SBV based on their respective responsibilities and tasks as mentioned in Decree 31/2022/ND-CP of the Government in order to remove any obstacles and difficulties in the implementation process of this support package. Afterward, the SBV Governor expressed her wishes that the banking industry and the other Ministries and agencies would join hands and engage in the implementation in a strong and determined manner, with a high consensus. In the near future, the SBV would send out documents requesting the local authorities to engage and support more actively to resolve any difficulties in the process of implementing this support package.
Overview of the Conference.
Based on the comments made at the Conference, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong requested the commercial banks to:
Review the list of all existing customers who are eligible for the interest rate support to find out about their needs; Notify and provide guidance to those customers on the required dossiers and procedures to access the interest rate support in line with the regulations. The commercial banks are also required to ensure that no eligible customers will be rejected access to the interest support package, and to promptly report and update the data about the implementation of the interest rate support package to the SBV in order to consolidate and, together with the Ministries and agencies, to report on the implementation results to the Government.
Disseminate the specific contents and tasks regarding the implementation among all branches and transaction offices in their systems, identifying that this is a key political task, which needs to be urgently, decisively and promptly implemented with the highest sense of responsibility.
Proactively and promptly address any emerging difficulties and obstacles based on their authority; Promptly report to the SBV, the relevant Ministries, agencies, the respective People's Committees on any difficulties and obstacles beyond their authority; Come up with proposals and recommendations in the implementation process.
Strengthen the communication and education on the interest rate support policy through the media, the local authorities, business associations, and via direct contacts with their customers, helping enterprises, cooperatives, household businesses to understand and have the necessary information and means to access the interest rate support package through the commercial banks.
Regarding the SBV municipal and provincial branches:
Follow and supervise the implementation of this interest rate support package; Proactively provide guidance and address any problems arising in their jurisdiction, and promptly report to the SBV on any issues that are beyond their authority. Based on the practical situations in their jurisdiction, the SBV branches need to proactively propose solutions to remove the difficulties and obstacles.
Proactively coordinate with the local departments and agencies to organize Bank-Enterprise Connection Conferences in their jurisdiction to find out about the needs for support of the enterprises; Enhance the information exchanges and direct dialogues between the commercial banks and the customers in their jurisdiction in order to remove any difficulties, increase the accessibility to the support policy, and to demonstrate the spirit of strong determination in the implementation at the local level.
Proactively engage in the communication in their jurisdiction to ensure that all enterprises, cooperatives, and household businesses understand about the legal requirements as prescribed for in Decree No. 31/2022/ND-CP and Circular No. 02/2022/TT-NHNN, and provide guidance for the implementation; Coordinate with the functional units of the SBV, the relevant Ministries and agencies to promptly address any emerging obstacles and difficulties.
Establish their own hotlines to receive the feedbacks of enterprises, household businesses and the people on any emerging obstacles and difficulties; Strictly and promptly penalize any credit institution that fails to implement this interest rate support program.
Regarding the SBV entities at the central level:
Closely monitor the macroeconomic developments, the domestic and the international currency markets to advice on possible solutions for the management of the monetary, credit, and interest rate policies in a proactive and flexible manner, with a view to controlling the inflation and maintaining the macroeconomic stability; Thereby, creating favorable conditions to support the effective implementation of the interest rate support program from the State budget.
The Department of Credit for Economic Sectors shall develop programs for the SBV municipal and provincial branches to organize the Bank-Enterprise Connection Conferences; Develop the working schedules for the SBV's leaderships to attend these Conferences in the provinces.
Develop a program to monitor and inspect the implementation of this interest rate program at the commercial banks in accordance with the applicable regulations; find out about any difficulties and obstacles from the practical implementation with the participation of the relevant Ministries and agencies.
Coordinate with the relevant Ministries and agencies in providing timely guidance and answers within the scope of functions and tasks of their units. In case there is a problem that goes beyond their authority, the SBV can report to the Government or to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for further instructions.
Establish a hotline at the SBV, together with the hotlines of the SBV branches in the provinces and cities, to receive the policy feedbacks from the people, enterprises and the commercial banks in order to promptly address and remove any emerging obstacles and difficulties. .
Regarding the relevant Ministries and agencies: the SBV Governor suggested that the relevant Ministries and agencies continue to closely coordinate with the SBV and the banking sector to effectively implement the interest rate support policy; promptly answer and remove any obstacles and difficulties arising during the policy implementation; join the inspection teams organized by the SBV to find out about the practical implementation, which can be the ground for possible solutions to accelerate the disbursement of the support package.
Regarding the communications: It is necessary to pay more attention, with the participation of all stakeholders, from the SBV to the commercial banks, from the SBV branches in the provinces and cities to the credit institutions, business associations, etc. to help enterprises, cooperatives and household businesses to understand about the conditions and eligible subjects of the interest rate support package; Communicate the instructions, the answers to the questions for all other entities to know and implement.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong also assigned the SBV Communications Department to act as the focal point, and to coordinate with the entities both inside and outside the banking sector to organize the communication activities. The Governor further requested the press agencies and the media to actively communicate about the implementation of the interest rate support package in line with Decree 31/2022/ND-CP of the Government.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong assigned the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors to take note of the comments from the participants in the Conference. The SBV Governor hoped that the interest rate support program would achieve the set targets and contribute positively to the economic and growth recovery of the country.
LK