Prime Minister urges bank Chairmen and CEOs to discuss reasons behind capital shortage and difficult access to funding for businesses: Regulation, Management, Caution or Local factors?

On the morning of March 14, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai chaired a conference to implement the task of monetary policy management in 2024, focusing on solving difficulties for production and business, promoting growth and macroeconomic stability.

At the conference, the Prime Minister requested delegates, especially Chairpersons and General Directors of commercial banks, to discuss and provide specific answers and solutions to many basic issues.

First, how should monetary policy, especially interest rates and exchange rates, be implemented to prioritize stimulating growth (about 6-6.5%) and maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, ensuring major balances of the economy?

Second, why do businesses complain about a lack of capital and difficult access to credit, while the amount of deposits from the economy and the public into the banking system is increasing, despite continuous declines in deposit interest rates? Where is the bottleneck, what are the causes, due to regulations, management, caution, or local factors?

Third, has the credit supply situation of the banking system for the economy, each industry, and sector been favorable? What are the obstacles, causes, measures to overcome them, ensuring that the supply of capital is not blocked, delayed, and not timely? How to supply credit with emphasis, focus on production and business?

Fourth, what solutions are needed to enhance businesses’ and the public’s access to credit? Especially solutions related to interest rates, procedures, loan documents, collateral assets, guarantee measures, communication and technology measures…?

Fifth, what should commercial banks do to ensure credit growth of about 15% for the entire year as requested by the State Bank of Vietnam from the beginning of the year? How to continue reducing lending rates so that the banking system shares the difficulties with the people and businesses?

Sixth, what should the Government, the State Bank of Vietnam, ministries, sectors, and localities do? What should the business community and the public do to stimulate investment and consumption, increase the ability to absorb capital from the people and businesses? What tools are needed? For example, a credit guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises?