Improving preferential credit policies for ethnic minority areas.

The State Bank of Vietnam is seeking feedback on the draft Government Decree stipulating preferential credit policies to promote socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions in the new period.

Improving preferential credit policies for ethnic minority areas.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), social policy credit through the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) has become an important tool helping people in disadvantaged areas access capital to improve their lives and develop production. Ethnic minorities not only benefit from general credit programs for poor households and other policy beneficiaries, but also have access to specific credit programs serving socio -economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

The scale of policy credit allocated to this region has expanded significantly in recent years. By the end of 2025, the total outstanding policy credit at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) reached over 413,000 billion VND, of which outstanding loans in ethnic minority and mountainous areas accounted for approximately one-third of the total outstanding loans of the system. This shows that this region remains one of the priorities of policy credit programs.

Along with general credit programs, Government Decree No. 28/2022/ND-CP on preferential credit policies for implementing the National Target Program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas from 2021 to 2030 has designed a number of specific preferential credit policies, focusing on essential needs of the people such as support for housing land, housing, production land, and vocational retraining.

By the end of 2025, housing support loans reached over VND 1,700 billion and vocational retraining loans reached nearly VND 1,060 billion, out of a total of approximately VND 2,900 billion disbursed under Decree No. 28/2022/ND-CP… The implementation results show that preferential credit capital has contributed to supporting people in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to improve their living conditions and gradually stabilize their livelihoods.

Although credit capital has contributed to improving people's living conditions, according to the State Bank of Vietnam, a review of the 2021-2025 period shows that many targets of the National Target Program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas have not yet been achieved. The Government's report indicates that the implementation rate of some targets remains limited, with support for housing land reaching approximately 45.5%, support for production land reaching 14.2%, and support for vocational retraining reaching 38.3%.

Meanwhile, practical implementation shows that the need for access to preferential capital for people in ethnic minority and mountainous areas remains very high. However, the scope and beneficiaries of some current credit policies are still relatively narrow, not covering all groups of people who need to borrow capital to stabilize their land, develop production, or transform their livelihoods.

Currently, preferential credit policies implemented under Decree No. 28/2022/ND-CP only apply during the implementation period of the National Target Program 2021-2025. As the Program enters a new phase, the development of a new Decree is considered necessary to continue implementing preferential credit policies, while expanding the scope of beneficiaries and adjusting loan amounts to better suit actual needs.

Based on that, the State Bank of Vietnam proposes the development of a new Decree to continue implementing current preferential credit policies, while adjusting and supplementing some contents to suit the requirements of the next development stage.

Specifically, according to the draft, the policy on loans to support land and housing will continue to apply to ethnic minority households and poor and near-poor Kinh households residing in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, with a maximum loan amount of 100 million VND/household, a maximum term of 15 years, and an interest rate of 3%/year. For the policy supporting production land and vocational retraining, the maximum loan amount is 200 million VND/household, with a maximum term of 10 years, and an interest rate equal to 50% of the interest rate for loans to poor households. The draft also adds a policy on loans to support production and business development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, with a maximum loan amount of 200 million VND for households and a maximum of 10 billion VND for small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and business households, with a maximum loan term of 10 years.

In addition to the aforementioned policies, the drafting agency also proposed specific regulations on lending principles, loan guarantees, classification and handling of risky debts to ensure the implementation of policy credit is transparent, fair, and targeted. Notably, household borrowers as stipulated in the Decree will not be required to provide loan guarantees, creating more favorable conditions for people to access preferential capital. At the same time, the draft clarifies the responsibilities of ministries, sectors, localities, and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies in organizing implementation, reviewing beneficiaries, and inspecting and monitoring the use of loan capital, to ensure the policy is implemented effectively and achieves its objectives.

The State Bank of Vietnam emphasized that the development of the new Decree aims to perfect the framework of preferential credit policies at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), thereby continuing to implement programs supporting socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, contributing to achieving the goals of the National Target Program in the coming period.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/hoan-thien-chinh-sach-tin-dung-uu-dai-cho-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-179023.html