Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has instructed the banking sector to continue taking measures to cut interest rates, especially loan interest rates, and review and adjust loan criteria and conditions to help individuals and businesses access credit, according to a report from the Government News.

Speaking at a teleconference on July 16 reviewing the activities of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in the first half and to launch tasks for the remaining months of the year, Prime Minister Chinh said capital should be prioritized for production and trade and for sectors that are considered growth drivers to boost socio-economic development. 

Measures are needed to accelerate the disbursement of the VND40 trillion ($1.68 billion) credit package on interest rate support and the VND120 trillion ($5.06 billion) package on the development of social housing, he said.

The government leader asked the SBV to pursue active, flexible, and effective monetary policy while accelerating decentralization and administrative reform.

Forex rates must be managed actively and flexibly, with global and domestic circumstances taken into consideration, while exerting drastic and effective effort to carry out the scheme on restructuring credit institutions and deal with bad debts in the 2021-2025 period, he said.

As the size of the domestic corporate bond market remains modest compared to those of other countries and Vietnam’s target, he ordered the raising of capital through bond issuance to support economic recovery.

Prime Minister Chinh also asked the banking sector to actively take part in tackling difficulties and obstacles to develop the real estate market in a safe, healthy, and sustainable manner.