The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has urged credit institutions to keep a close watch on the purchase and export of key farm produce in the Mekong Delta and meet associated financing needs.

“The distribution of agricultural products should not be affected by a lack of finance,” SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong told a conference on “Credit solutions to promote the purchase, consumption and export of key agricultural products in the Mekong Delta”, organized in Can Tho city on December 13.

The Mekong Delta holds major potential and advantages in agricultural development and is the country’s largest agriculture and seafood production hub.

SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said the central bank has been implementing a host of synchronous solutions to stabilize the macroeconomic situation, control inflation, address difficulties, support markets, and encourage and facilitate enterprises and individuals in the region to access credit for production and business activities.

According to Mr. Tu, following the SBV raising the credit growth limit by between 1.5 and 2 percentage points in early December, the central bank urged all banks to channel credit to priority economic areas, especially agriculture and rural development.

Ms. Ha Thu Giang, Deputy Director General of the SBV’s Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, said that total capital mobilized this year in the Mekong Delta region stood at VND719 trillion ($30.7 billion) as of November, with credit debts totaling over VND955 trillion ($40.7 billion), up 8.68 per cent and 13.53 per cent, respectively, year-on-year.