The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) held a meeting with businesses in northern Bac Ninh province on September 28 to identify solutions to tackle the difficulties they face in accessing credit, to boost production and trade over the remaining months of 2023.

SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha said credit growth in the banking system was 14.18 per cent in 2022 but just 5.56 per cent in the first eight months of this year.

A decline in credit has been seen in many areas in Bac Ninh. Outstanding loans for rural and agricultural development fell 6.3 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months, to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by 9.78 per cent, and for real estate by 23.79 per cent.

To help people and business gain better access to credit and strengthen the economy’s ability to absorb the capital, the government, the Prime Minister, and the SBV have organized a range of conferences to connect banks with businesses and discuss measures to deal with the difficulties in the economy and the business community, Mr. Ha said.

Business representatives at the meeting proposed measures to improve access to credit, including establishing policies for them to gain access to capital in the market, reducing interest rates to help them obtain loans in line with their circumstances, providing interest rate support packages to the proper beneficiaries, and restructuring loan terms for enterprises facing difficulties.