Urgently issue Circular guiding debt restructuring affected by storm No. 3

Factories of many businesses were damaged by storm No. 3. Photo: H.Dịu

In a recently issued Directive No. 04/CT-NHNN outlining the banking sector's solutions to assist individuals and businesses facing difficulties due to Storm No. 3 (Yagi), the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam has called on SBV units to proactively, flexibly, timely, and effectively manage monetary policy. This should be done in coordination with fiscal policies and other macroeconomic policies to support economic growth, maintain macroeconomic stability, and stabilize the foreign exchange market and banking system.

The Directive emphasizes the need to proactively study the impacts of Storm No. 3 on monetary policy management, particularly credit limits, capital demand, and liquidity for the overall economy and commercial banks, in order to implement suitable regulatory measures.

The Governor has also requested the urgent submission of a proposal to the Prime Minister regarding the classification of assets, the level of provisioning for risks, the method of provisioning for risks, and the use of provisions to handle risks in order to support customers facing difficulties and losses due to the storm.

Concurrently, the SBV is drafting a circular to guide credit institutions in restructuring loan terms for customers facing difficulties in repayment due to Storm No. 3.

For credit institutions, the Governor requested to promptly direct their branches and transaction offices in the 26 affected provinces and cities to implement with the highest responsibility and urgency the solutions to support borrowers affected by Storm No. 3, in accordance with the directives on restructuring loan terms, reducing interest, etc.

Furthermore, credit institutions are required to continue effectively implementing solutions to direct credit towards production and business sectors, priority areas, and economic growth drivers as per the Government and Prime Minister's directives.

At the same time, they are to develop new credit programs and packages with suitable interest rates, continue lending in accordance with current regulations in the spirit of administrative procedure reform, eliminating hassles, and expediting new loan approvals. This is to facilitate borrowers, particularly in terms of collateral and credit limits, thereby helping customers overcome difficulties and stabilize their production and business activities post-storm.

However, the Directive emphasizes the need to ensure the safety of credit institutions and prevent the exploitation or abuse of policies.