Commitment to disburse about VND 7,000 trillion
On the morning of March 12, the State Bank of Vietnam organized a conference to promote the implementation of the VND 120,000 trillion program for social housing loans, housing for workers, renovation projects, and construction of residential buildings.
Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu stated that the VND 120,000 trillion credit package is the capital source of commercial banks. Therefore, the viewpoint of lending and disbursing is in line with the objectives and target of this support package, towards social housing, and housing for workers with low incomes.
Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu speaks at the conference.
“Since this is a support package serving the goal of 1 million social housing units, it may take a few years to disburse the funds. But qualified projects must be disbursed immediately,” emphasized the Deputy Governor.
Regarding the results of implementing the VND 120,000 trillion program, Nguyen Xuan Bac – Deputy Head of the Credit Department, State Bank of Vietnam – said that there are currently 28 out of 63 provincial People’s Committees that have sent documents or announced on electronic portals regarding the list of projects participating in the program, with 68 projects. Among them, some provinces have announced multiple projects, such as Hanoi (6 projects), Ho Chi Minh City (6 projects), Bac Ninh (6 projects), Binh Dinh (5 projects)… Of the 68 projects in 28 provinces and cities, there are 30 projects with demand for loans, while the remaining projects do not need loans as they have already been completed or have arranged other capital sources.
Of the 30 projects with loan needs, commercial banks have committed to providing credit for 15 projects with a total committed amount of about VND 7,000 trillion.
Specifically, BIDV has disbursed to 3 project owners in Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, and Binh Duong provinces with an amount of VND 95.7 billion. Vietinbank has disbursed to 1 project owner in An Giang province with an amount of VND 128.6 billion and to home buyers in 1 project with an amount of VND 0.4 billion. Agribank has disbursed to 4 project owners in Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, and Kien Giang provinces with an amount of VND 415.7 billion and to home buyers in 2 projects with an amount of VND 5.7 billion.
Limitations in the supply of social housing
According to Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu, the disbursement program of the VND 120,000 trillion package still faces some difficulties and challenges. Specifically, the supply of social housing is still limited. Up to now, only 28 provinces and cities have announced the list of social housing, housing for workers, renovation projects, and construction of residential buildings. In total, there are only 68 projects announced under this program.
Through access and appraisal of the projects, credit institutions have found that some projects still encounter difficulties in legal matters, land clearance, procedures for calculating land use fees, land use conversion…
“The legal challenges are also the reason why credit institutions have not had a basis to provide credit to project owners,” said Deputy Governor.
Deputy Governor added that the VND 120,000 trillion program is implemented over nearly 10 years to implement the plan to build at least 1 million social housing units. Therefore, to promote the VND 120,000 trillion credit package, there needs to be the synchronous involvement of the political system, ministries, sectors, and localities to forcefully accelerate the implementation progress of the plan to build at least 1 million housing units, thereby creating housing projects for commercial banks to consider lending to.
“The State Bank will coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in building and issuing guidance documents on the Housing Law, monitor the implementation of the program to propose modifications that are suitable for the actual implementation. Besides, the State Bank will continue to closely follow the directions of the Government, the Prime Minister, continue to proactively and flexibly manage and synchronize monetary policy tools, direct credit institutions to reduce costs, lower interest rates, create conditions for lowering interest rates for loans,” Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu affirmed.
