The demand for loans to restore production and meet the Tết (Lunar New Year) demand is enormous, experts said. Photo saigondautu.com.vn

HCM CITY — To speed up recovery post-COVID-19, HCM City authorities are trying to link up businesses and banks to address the former’s financial needs.

Hóc Môn District has organised several conferences to find out the difficulties they face such as lack of capital and ways to put them in touch with lenders.

Nguyễn Thanh Hải, director of Saigon Ngọc Điểm Orchid Garden in Hóc Môn, said: “Foxtail orchids only blossom once a year, mainly during Tết (Lunar New Year) and many traders arrive in October and November every year to buy. But this year and last year tens of thousands of orchids went unsold. To maintain their orchid gardens, businesses need financial support."

Nguyễn Thị Phước, director of Lan Phương Trading Production Company Limited in Phú Nhuận District, said her company had to stop operating for many months because of social distancing but still had to pay taxes, interest on bank loans and salaries, and so is mired in difficulties.

Businesses said they want banks to restructure loans and provide new loans at low interest rates so that they could resume operations.

Business executives and experts said to resume operations companies desperately need funds.

As the end of the year approaches, businesses have been stepping up efforts to get back into the market as demand for goods and services surges in the holiday season.

Food producers need large sums of money soon to stockpile raw materials and make production plans for Christmas and Tết in early February, Lý Kim Chi, president of the HCM City Food and Foodstuff Association, said.

Deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank’s Hóc Môn branch, Lê Trung Hậu, said the bank has a programme to reduce interest rates to help restore production and restructure old debts and not designate them bad debts.

Nguyễn Văn Thân, director of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam’s Bình Thạnh District branch, said the current demand for loans to revive and expand businesses is huge, and banks have cut interest rates and rolled over debts.

Banks said they plan to cut interest rates by one per cent and waive fees, and it has been well received by the business community.

The State Bank of Việt Nam's HCM City branch estimates 400,000 businesses will benefit from this. — VNS