Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has hailed the Party and State’s use of credit to implement social policies, saying the policy contributes to development and poverty reduction.— VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has hailed the Party and State’s use of credit to implement social policies, saying the policy contributes to development and poverty reduction.

The PM made the remark on Monday when chairing a teleconference with leaders of 63 localities nationwide to review 15 years of credit policies for the poor through the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP).

He expressed his pleasure with the efficiency of 20 credit programmes that the VBSP runs, helping nearly seven million poor households and other needy groups access loans.

He said that the bank’s organisation suits conditions in Việt Nam, with the bank operating 11,000 transaction points nationwide, along with 200,000 saving groups in rural villages and communes.

Noting that Việt Nam still has 1.9 million poor households and 1.3 million living close to the poverty line, the Government leader asked credit officials to try to grasp the poor’s needs to better serve them.

He also urged the bank to use advanced technologies and diversify their products and services to help customers access preferential loans.

The PM asked ministries and localities to propose measures to strengthen resources for social policy credit.

“In the Government’s perspective, investing in the VBSP and the poor means investing in development,” stated PM Phúc.

He also called for the engagement of organisations, individuals, businesses and all of society in contributing capital to the bank, joining hands to improve living conditions for the poor.

The VBSP reported that since its establishment in 2002, the bank has provided loans to more than 31.8 million poor households and policy beneficiaries.

The funds helped nearly 4.5 million households escape from poverty, about 3.4 million labourers have jobs and 3.5 million students pay for their studies.

Capital from the bank has been used to build 9.9 million rural water supply and sanitation works, nearly 633,000 houses for the needy and more than 11,000 storm shelters in the central region.

As of September 30, the VBSP’s total outstanding balance was VNĐ169 trillion (US$7.43 billion), 24 times higher than in 2002, with growth of 19.2 per cent each year.

Thanks to credit, the poverty ratio dropped to 4.25 per cent in 2015 from 22 per cent in 2005.

The bank’s capital by the end of September was VNĐ179 trillion ($7.87 billion), 25 times higher than that in 2002, 15.6 per cent of which was from the State budget.

Its overdue and charged-off debts fell to only 0.81 per cent as of September 30.

At the conference, the PM presented the VBSP with the Labour Medal, first class, in recognition of its outstanding performance. Twenty collectives and nine individuals with excellent contributions to disbursing social policy credit were also honoured at the event. — VNS