A view of Đạng Xá Urban Area in Gia Lâm Distric, Hà Nội. — Photo hanoimoi.vn

HÀ NỘI — Social policy credit helped build more than 4,000 houses and over 1.2 million water supply and sanitation facilities in rural areas in 2019, according to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP).

The figures were presented in a report released recently by the VBSP.

It revealed that more than 266,000 people have gained employment – with nearly 7,000 sent abroad as guest workers and 36,000 disadvantaged students continued studying last year thanks to the bank’s loans.

VBSP said its total credit balance stood at more than VNĐ206.8 trillion (US$8.9 billion) as of the end of 2019, up 10.1 per cent compared to last year.

Of the amount, 73.8 per cent was channeled into production and business activities that created livelihoods and jobs.

The rate of overdue and charge-off debts made up 0.7 per cent of the total outstanding balance.

Meanwhile, the outstanding balance of credit programmes assigned by the Prime Minister reached nearly VNĐ180 trillion, up 9 per cent year-on-year.

The accumulative capital for social welfare credit reached more than VNĐ216.36 trillion in 2019, up VNĐ17.58 trillion from the previous year, with VNĐ15.4 trillion entrusted by local budgets.

VBSP general director Dương Quyết Thắng has asked the bank’s departments to follow the Government’s guidelines on socio-economic development and credit growth plans in 2020 assigned by the PM.

He required all units to take the initiative in mobilising financial resources for lending and quickly disbursing credit in order to meet financial demands of targeted groups, contributing to reducing black credit and improving the operational efficiency of the bank.  VNS