Bankers propose resolution to support firms, people

A Vietcombank transaction office in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA) has suggested the Government submit a request to the National Assembly for a resolution to support firms and people to overcome difficulties and promote business development like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, VNBA’s General Secretary, said firms are facing many difficulties as most of their reserve resources are no longer available while capital and real estate markets are still in gloomy times.

Although the Government and the Prime Minister have proposed solutions to remove difficulties for firms and people, the capital absorption capacity of the economy is still low.

In addition, Hung also proposed the Government direct ministries and sectors to promote public investment and remove difficulties in legal procedures for unfinished projects and social housing projects.

It is also necessary to implement the Law on Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises and improve the role of guarantee funds for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Currently, there are 24 guarantee funds for small- and medium-sized enterprises in 24 provinces and cities, but their operations are not efficient and need to be improved.

The Government should also review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise Support Fund under the Ministry of Planning and Investment and supplement its capital in order to support firms that have not yet met the conditions for loans at credit institutions.

Hung also suggested that the Government should reduce VAT for commercial banks to ease them in sharply reducing lending interest rates to support firms.

At the same time, the Government should allow State-owned commercial banks to increase their charter capital from profits in the coming years through the form of paying pidends in shares from profits left after setting up required funds for the 2022-2023 period.

As for relevant ministries and branches, the VNBA’s representative suggested that the Ministry of Public Security closely coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and other ministries and sectors to strengthen and have solutions to thoroughly handle current cybercrime to ensure security and safety in payment activities.

In particular, it is recommended that the Ministry of Public Security, the Procuracy, and the court study and consider returning exhibits in criminal cases to banks for timely sale and auction in order to limit losses during a seizure.

It is necessary to request the Supreme People's Court to direct courts at all levels to unify the form of handling disputes related to cases where property owners create fake disputes in order to prolong the time of recovering the collateral of credit institutions.

Besides, the Ministry of Finance should cooperate with relevant ministries and sectors to develop a legal framework for the securitization of debts, and issue guidance on the valuation of bad debts through the Vietnam Valuation Standards in accordance with the Pricing Law and form a debt trading market, Hung said.

The General Department of Civil Judgment Execution should review outstanding judgments related to the handling of collateral for bad debt recovery./