Bank for Social Policies Benefits Poor People

As of late June, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) supported nearly 6.8 million poor and near-poor households and people with merits. The VBSP recently convened a regular Board of Directors meeting in Q2 under the chair of Governor of the SBV and Chairman of the VBSP, Le Quang Hung. As of June 30, the VBSP had a total capital of VND157 trillion, increased by VND10 trillion and a credit balance of about VND 150 trillion, grown by 5% against the end of 2015, said the General Director of the VBSP Duong Quyet Thang. The quality of policy-managed credit is constantly being enhanced; the overdue debt rate accounted for 0.76% of the total credit balance, he added. Speaking at the meeting, Governor Hung appraised the Board of Management for their active, creative and drastic management and tasked them to strive for the preset goal in 2016. He also tasked the VBSP to monitor the market and coordinate closely with the SBV and Ministry of Finance to accelerate the issuance of Government bonds; and prepare resources to implement the social housing program and take advantage of local budgets. The Chairman also asked the VBSP to proactively cooperate with the Northwest, Southwest and Central Highlands Steering Committees to review and assess the credit program to plan appropriate regional poverty reduction mechanisms. In the first six months of 2016, the VBSP lent out nearly VND28 trillion, which supported over 1.14 million poor and near-poor households and people with merits, and 710,000 projects to provide clean water and sanitation in rural areas. The lender also helped create 73,000 jobs for 1,000 guest workers and provide tuition fees for 18,000 difficulty-ridden students and over 2,000 houses for poor families in the Central region. (http://news.chinhphu.vn/ Jul 18)