Vietnam Ministry Proposes More Soft Loans for Agricultural Production
The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed the Government to extend the soft loan program on procuring instruments and materials for agricultural production and rural housing development through next June.
The program, stipulated in the Decision No. 497/QD-TTg, will end Dec 31, encouraging farmers to borrow money from banks at 4% interest rate to buy fertilizer, pesticides and construction materials, repayable over 24 months.
The ministry said that many farm households have not yet had access to the soft loans for fears of red tape, bureaucracy, and complicated loan procedures.
Only 20% of farm households across the country have got subsidized loans to date, said Nguyen Van Doanh, the general secretary of the Association for Business and Rural Farming Household.
Doanh also proposed the Government to simplify the soft loan scheme to make it easier for farmers to apply for loans.
The program is under the VND17 trillion interest rate subsidy package launched by the Government in February to spur economic recovery this year.
Vietnam’s economy is on recovery course, recording growth of 4.56% in the first nine months. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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