HÀ NỘI – Commercial banks in the central city yesterday committed to set aside VNĐ150 trillion (US$6.7 billion) as a credit support package.

The purpose is to help enterprises increase production to meet people’s rising demand and stabilise the market with the Lunar New Year approaching.

The information was released by Hoàng Việt Trung, deputy director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s (SBV) Hà Nội branch, during a conference to strengthen the link between banks and businesses co-organised by SBV and the Hà Nội People’s Committee.

The funds would be disbursed from now until the mid of 2017, with preferential interest rates offered at 1.5-2 percentage points lower than the common rates, Trung said.

Vice chairman of the committee, Nguyễn Doãn Toản, said the package would be used to help more than 200,000 local enterprises tackle difficulties while seeking loans for business and production.

It would also encourage them to participate in the market stabilisation programme and store goods to serve people’s demand during floods, holidays and festivals.

Quách Hùng Hiệp, a representative of the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam, said after two years of participating in the bank-business linking programme, the bank had lent VNĐ130 trillion to enterprises, contributing to their development.

However, he suggested that the city’s People Committee clearly define production sectors that needed support and which would be prioritised to increase the efficiency of the programme.

Also at the conference, 10 commercial banks and 11 enterprises yesterday signed cooperation and credit agreements with loans committed reaching VNĐ3trillion ($134.5 million).

Lê Hồng Thăng, director of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, said the department was planning to organise a promotion day for credit institutions in the city in November 2017 under the framework of the year’s promotion campaign.

According to the branch’s report, outstanding loans offered in line with bank-business linking programmes in the city have been increasing over the past two years.

Since the beginning of this year, 120 commercial banks and branches signed credit support contracts with local firms worth VNĐ170 trillion, of which 70 per cent was disbursed. – VNS