The demand for loans of businesses is still very large, so it is necessary to improve access to credit. Photo: ST

In a document at the end of February, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the SBV to direct the research and evaluation of information on the fact that many businesses are forced to sell to foreign countries due to a need for capital. The Prime Minister requested the State Bank to have appropriate solutions to support businesses according to regulations.

In fact, the shortage of capital has been emphasized by many businesses over the past few months. Typically, despite being granted a loan limit  by the bank, at the time of disbursement, a business specializing in commercial, export-import service was informed that the room was limit ed, so it could not be disbursed. Due to the lack of capital, the goods have been imported, and the letter of credit (L/C) has been opened but cannot pay, causing the enterprise to spend hundreds of millions more on storage costs.

Mr. Pham Van Viet, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Embroidery and Knitting Association stated that while businesses need loans at the beginning of the year to operate, many lending regulations are tighter with escalating interest rates. On the other hand, textile and garment industry orders are constantly falling down to 30-40% and profit per order also plummets.

Therefore, granting credit room is considered by experts and businesses to help banks boost capital to the market, facilitating businesses to proactively deploy business plans in 2023.

Along with the credit room being opened, banks have also responded to calls from the Government and the SBV, actively reducing operating costs, reducing deposit interest rates, contributing to reducing lending rates as well as launching many preferential credit programs for businesses. A representative of Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) said that in the current period, the bank mainly lends to businesses focusing on import and export production.

To meet the capital needs of businesses in line with the bounce back of import and export activity in 2023, many credit packages have been launched. For example, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) has launched a credit package of VND 30,000 billion with preferential interest rates of up to 2% to support all businesses, especially import-export ones. Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) applies a preferential interest rate of only 7.5%/year to corporate customers who need capital to pay for imports and exports.

Businesses not only suffer from high interest rates but struggle to access loans. According to a survey by the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the percentage of businesses that can get loans from the credit institution system has tended to decrease in recent years. If in 2017, 49.37% of enterprises participating in the survey could access capital from credit institutions, this number has decreased over the years to 35.41% in 2021.

According to a representative of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, in fact, only about 2% of cooperatives in the country have access to capital from credit institutions while cooperatives also need capital to have a good investment to invest in advanced science and technology, expand the scale of production and consumption, and associate with enterprises in the value chain of domestic and export markets.

Recently, the SBV has issued a document directing credit institutions to continue promoting the implementation of the program to connect banks - businesses in localities, supporting and creating favorable conditions for businesses to access credit capital. The State Bank requires local banks to actively work directly with customers to remove difficulties in credit relations and facilitate customers to access bank credit in accordance with the law.

Obviously, the relationship between banks and businesses is a "symbiotic" relationship, which has bilateral benefits, so all issues must be on the "win-win" motto and profit harmonization. A representative of the State Bank once said that banks have to "light the torch" to connect targeted businesses to grant credit lines and quickly disburse.

Banks "make a profit" thanks to the development of businesses and banks also bring benefits to businesses. Therefore, the fact that both sides agree, comply with the law, and be transparent in operations and finance will certainly find each other and solve many current problems.