5:21:56 PM | 4/22/2009
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung April 17 decided to launch an economic stimulus program to help local farmers who are hit by the global economic downturn, the government said.
Under the decision No. 497/QD-TTg, the farmers will receive interest-fee loans from local banks to buy farming tools, processing equipments and construction materials.
The government will also subsidize part of the interest paid on bank loans used to buy fertilizer, insecticide and construction materials.
The state will subsidize interest payments of up to 4 per cent on the loans, which typically carry interest rates of 10 per cent-11 per cent annually.
The duration of the interest-free loans will be 12 months, while the maturity of the subsidized loans will be two years. But the loans will only be used to buy domestically made products.
This stimulus plan will help "production and consumer in the agriculture and rural sector, one of the sectors worst affected by the global economic recession," the report said.
But the report did not reveal total sum of the stimulus package. (chinhphu.vn, Vietnam & World Economy)
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