"Bridge" to bring credit capital to the poor

08:15, 03/08/2023

Savings and loan groups are considered the "extended arm" of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) in bringing credit capital to poor households and policy beneficiaries, aiming at economic development and job creation.

As the Head of the Savings and Loan Group of Village 9 (Ea Wer Commune, Buon Don District), over the years, Mr. Lo Xuan Thuong has always kept abreast of the circumstances and loan needs of the villagers. Thanks to that, the consultation and introduction of policy credit sources to the poor and policy beneficiaries in the area have been carried out promptly.

He also introduced and advised on new economic development models for borrowers to refer to and apply in order to improve the efficiency of loan use. The group is currently managing outstanding loans of more than 1.7 billion VND, with 40 borrowers, and there is no overdue debt in the group.

Mr. Lo Xuan Thuong (standing in the middle) , Head of the Savings and Loan Group in Village 9 (Ea Wer Commune, Buon Don District) advises on new economic development models for borrowers to refer to.

In Krong Bong district, there are currently 300 savings and loan groups, of which the Farmers' Association has 78 groups, the Women's Union has 79 groups, the Veterans' Association has 73 groups and the Youth Union has 70 groups. According to the representative of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Krong Bong district, local savings and loan groups have played an important role in implementing policy credit, acting as a "bridge" between the bank and borrowers, bringing economic efficiency.

The province currently has 4,070 active savings and loan groups. Specifically, the Farmers' Association has 1,244 groups, with 50,674 households with outstanding loans; the Women's Union has 1,291 groups, 53,066 households with outstanding loans; the Veterans' Association has 773 groups, 31,291 households with outstanding loans; the Youth Union has 762 groups, 30,983 households with outstanding loans. Through assessment, it shows that 4,001 groups are classified as good (accounting for 98.3%); 54 groups are classified as fair (1.3%); the rest are average groups, with no weak groups.

Accordingly, the groups operate on the principle of voluntariness, helping each other in production and life, and committing to using the loan for the right purpose, repaying the debt and interest on time. At the same time, the organization conducts public and democratic evaluation of those who are eligible for preferential loans; supervises group members in using the loan for the right purpose; and performs well the work of collecting interest and monthly savings as authorized by the bank.

With his dynamism and enthusiasm, over the years, Mr. Tran Duc Anh, Head of the Savings and Loan Group in Village 2 (Cu Dram Commune, Krong Bong District) has promoted his exemplary leading role. He is currently managing 52 borrowing households, with a total outstanding debt of more than 2 billion VND. In his activities and in evaluating loan applicants, he is always open and transparent. Thanks to that, group members have accessed preferential loans, used them for the right purposes, and effectively in farming and raising livestock, and many households have risen out of poverty.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dien, Director of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Krong Bong district, said that in order to improve the efficiency of the savings and loan groups, the unit regularly selects prestigious people in the community to be group leaders and pays attention to annual professional training for the management board of the savings and loan groups.

In addition, advise the organizations receiving entrusted loans, the Party Committee, and the People's Committee of the commune to direct the savings and loan groups to comply with the periodic activities to promptly notify the new policies to the members. At the same time, regularly review and improve the quality of savings and loan group activities; reorganize weak groups that do not complete the assigned tasks and guide the management board of savings and loan groups to use interactive software to achieve higher efficiency in work.

Staff of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Krong Bong district and the Head of the Savings and Loan Group of Ea Trul commune checked the efficiency of capital use by the people.

It is known that since the beginning of the year, the organizations receiving entrusted loans have proactively established and implemented inspection and supervision work at grassroots organizations. For provincial-level associations and organizations, the Youth Union has inspected 8 districts, 8 communes, 32 groups, and 160 borrowers; the Veterans Association has inspected 7 districts, 7 communes, 7 groups, and 35 borrowers; the Women's Union has inspected 5 districts, 5 communes, 17 groups, and 31 borrowers; and the Farmers' Association has inspected 4 districts, 4 communes, 4 groups, and 20 borrowers.

For district-level associations and unions, 479 communes, 1,237 groups and 6,185 borrowers were inspected. Commune-level associations and unions inspected 2,444 groups and 88,232 borrowers. Political and social organizations at all levels continued to closely coordinate with the Social Policy Bank to effectively implement the entrusted contents, disburse funds quickly and to the right subjects, and promptly meet the borrowing needs of the poor and other policy households. The quality of savings and loan groups' operations has been increasingly improved and enhanced, with 3,875 groups having no overdue debts (reaching a rate of 95.2%).

According to the representative of the Bank for Social Policies, Dak Lak Branch, with the role of a "bridge", the savings and loan groups have helped the unit transfer preferential capital to the right subjects, monitor the borrowers to pay interest and repay debts well. Currently, nearly 100 group leaders use the VBSP Smart Banking app to collect interest and savings, which has significantly shortened transaction time.

In addition, the groups regularly analyze and evaluate credit quality to find solutions appropriate to the actual situation. In the coming time, the branch will strengthen the review and monitoring to improve the quality of savings and loan groups; consolidate and strengthen average and weak groups; focus on improving the quality of loan review meetings, regular meetings and urging and supervising group members to use loans for the right purposes, repay debts and interest according to regulations...

Minh Chi - Khanh Huyen

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