Banks reduce loan interest rates for customers affected by natural disasters

Accordingly, a series of commercial banks have stepped in to reduce interest rates, postpone debt, and provide capital support to help people and businesses quickly restore their lives and stabilize production and business.

Photo caption — Agribank 's working group went to assess the damage caused by floods. Photo: TBNH

Agribank representative said that, in the face of the particularly serious damage caused by the historic storm and flood in the Central and Central Highlands regions, Agribank General Director Pham Toan Vuong and the Agribank working delegation recently visited and worked with branches in Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak provinces to grasp the situation; at the same time, direct solutions to overcome the consequences of the flood.

“Notably, most of the damage is concentrated on Agribank's customer group, farmers, cooperatives, and businesses operating in the agricultural sector that are borrowing capital for production, causing risks to spread and recovery to become more difficult,” said an Agribank representative.

Agribank General Director Pham Toan Vuong directed Agribank branches to urgently activate special operating status; review and strengthen response and response measures, ensure safety of treasury, payment system, cash supply, and maintain smooth banking operations in the context of complex natural disasters.

“Urgently review the entire credit portfolio, accurately identify the customer groups affected by floods, based on the level of damage, units immediately deploy preferential credit packages for customers, specifically adjusting the loan interest rate down from 0.5% to 2%/year, not collecting late payment interest; at the same time, adjust the overdue interest rate to 100% of the loan interest rate within the term for 3 months, from November 19, 2025 to February 18, 2026”, said Agribank General Director Pham Toan Vuong.

For new loans arising from November 19 to December 31, 2025, Agribank reduces the loan interest rate by 0.5%/year compared to the interest rate applied at the time of disbursement, applicable for a maximum period of 6 months from the date of disbursement.

Regarding debt forgiveness, Ms. Phung Thi Binh, Deputy General Director of Agribank, said that Decree 156/2025 clearly stipulates a special mechanism to support borrowers affected by natural disasters. Customers affected by natural disasters can have their debts forgiven by commercial banks for up to 12 months for short-term loans and 36 months for medium- and long-term loans; at the same time, the bank will keep the debt group unchanged.

“During the debt deferral period, all interest accrued will be deducted from the provincial and municipal budgets to be paid directly to the bank. Borrowers only have to pay the principal after the debt deferral period ends,” said Ms. Phung Thi Binh.

However, according to Agribank representative, commercial banks do not have the authority to approve debt rescheduling but only complete the documents to submit to the State Bank, so that this agency can submit to the Government for approval. The condition for submitting to the competent authority for debt rescheduling is that the People's Committee of the province or city must notify the state of natural disaster on a large scale; the People's Committee of the province/commune level must confirm that the customer has suffered damage to the loan capital, assets formed from the loan capital...

Since the beginning of 2025, Agribank has spent more than 80 billion VND to support the work of overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, out of a total of more than 500 billion VND that the bank has spent on social security activities for the community across the country.

To share with the people in the flood-hit areas of the Central region, the BIDV delegation led by Chairman Phan Duc Tu directly came to share and give 20 billion VND to join hands with the authorities and people of Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, and Gia Lai provinces to overcome difficulties after natural disasters.

In October and November 2025 alone, with the spirit of mutual love and support, BIDV called on its staff and workers and allocated 46 billion VND to support people in provinces affected by natural disasters. In addition, there were sincere and heartfelt visits and words of encouragement, and timely support from colleagues at all branches to staff and their families affected by natural disasters in the Central region.

VietinBank is also reviewing the damage to customers in the storm and flood areas and implementing a preferential credit package until the end of 2025. A representative of VietinBank said that the bank will reduce loan interest rates by a maximum of 2 percentage points compared to the normal level, and the approval process will be shortened so that people and businesses can quickly access capital to repair their homes, restore production and business, supplement working capital or invest in new machinery. "We prioritize maximum disbursement speed so that customers' work is not interrupted," a representative of VietinBank affirmed.

Previously, VPBank representative announced the implementation of an interest rate support package of up to 1,000 billion VND for customers in 15 provinces and cities affected by storms and floods, with a maximum reduction of 1%, continuously for 6 months.

The program applies to individual customers with mortgage loans at VPBank, on the list of provinces and cities affected by storms and floods in 15 provinces and cities: Ninh Binh, Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Thanh Hoa, Da Nang, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Lam Dong. “The interest rate support level is adjusted according to the loan term. For loans remaining over 12 months, the interest rate is reduced by 1% for 6 consecutive months; for short-term loans remaining up to 12 months, the reduction is 0.5% for 3 months,” said a VPBank representative.

Previously, the bank donated VND15 billion to support households in Gia Lai to repair and build new houses; VND30 billion to Nghe An and VND10 billion to the northern and central provinces to overcome the consequences of floods, providing necessities, materials and solutions to stabilize livelihoods. In 2025 alone, VPBank's resources, staff and partners' contributions to social activities will reach nearly VND70 billion.

ABBANK also applies interest rate reduction of up to 2.8% for individual customers and small and medium enterprises with existing loans in disaster areas. Short-term loans of enterprises are supported for 3 months, while medium and long-term loans are applied preferentially for 6 months.

In parallel with the special support program for customers in disaster areas, ABBANK still maintains many preferential loan packages for individuals, business households and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) nationwide, such as loans for production and business, loans for buying houses, buying cars, or loans for priority customer groups (civil servants, teachers, doctors, etc.). The loan packages are designed with competitive interest rates, flexible procedures, and fast disbursement time, helping customers easily access capital and optimize cash flow.

According to Mr. Bui Huy Tho, Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Region 10 Branch, credit institutions are required to actively deploy consumer loan products, simplify procedures to support people to overcome difficulties; prioritize support for people in remote areas, poor households, and policy households; at the same time, banks are requested to proactively propose solutions to overcome difficulties to superiors and mobilize officers and employees to share with people.

The timely intervention of the banking sector, from debt restructuring, interest rate reduction to additional preferential capital sources, is becoming an important support to help people in flood-affected areas soon restore production and stabilize their lives.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/ngan-hang-giam-lai-vay-cho-khach-hang-bi-anh-huong-boi-thien-tai-20251130061215955.htm