National Assembly questions why 120,000 billion package has 'high demand, slow disbursement'

Delegates questioned the Governor why the 120,000 billion VND credit package for social housing has so far only disbursed about 100 billion VND even though people lack housing.

On the morning of November 6, three Ministers, heads of Finance, Planning & Investment and the Governor of the State Bank "opened" the 2.5-day question-and-answer session at the 6th session of the National Assembly . Unlike the previous session, when the National Assembly questioned groups of hot issues, this session the ministers were questioned about the implementation of their promises according to 10 Resolutions of the 14th and 15th National Assembly.

'It takes the whole system to build one million social houses'

As the first member of the Government to speak, the Governor of the State Bank clarified many issues surrounding the 120,000 billion VND credit package with "high demand but low disbursement", the inability to remove credit limits (room) to regulate the market, black credit...

Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Huong, Chairwoman of the Fatherland Front Committee of An Giang province, questioned on the morning of November 6. Photo: National Assembly Media

The 120,000 billion VND package for social housing loans for low-income people and workers aims to have 1 million social housing apartments by 2030. Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Huong, Head of the An Giang Propaganda Department, asked about difficulties and solutions when this package has only disbursed 100 billion, while the housing demand, according to her, is very large.

Explaining, State Bank Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said the money for this package comes from capital mobilization from the people, with preferential interest rates from financial resources of participating banks. The State Bank has guided the banks and they have disbursed 105 billion VND for 3 projects in 3 localities, by the end of October.

According to Ms. Hong, the disbursement of this package is stuck, first of all due to the limited supply of housing. When the policy was issued, the State Bank asked the People's Committees of the provinces to pay attention and announce projects under the loan program, but only 18/63 People's Committees announced 53 projects with a loan demand of VND27,000 billion.

State Bank Governor Nguyen Thi Hong answers questions on the morning of November 6. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

In addition, the demand for housing for low-income earners and workers is very high, but the demand for loans is a consideration of the people and according to Ms. Hong, it is currently low. Not to mention, the policy on beneficiaries is still inadequate, it must be people with income not subject to personal income tax, do not have a house...

Delegate Nguyen Anh Tri. Photo: National Assembly Media

After the debate, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tri, former Director of the Central Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, commented that Ms. Hong's answer was correct but added that not only the bank needs to be involved but also the whole system, including the Ministry of Construction, localities, trade unions, agencies, units and workers from arranging locations, areas, quality, and prices. From there, according to him, we can meet the needs of workers and implement the Government's policy, which he believes is correct and humane.

"I hope the Prime Minister will direct us to reach consensus and work together to succeed," said Professor Tri.

Cannot remove credit limit

Also questioning the Governor, Ms. Tran Thi Van, Deputy Head of the delegation in charge of Bac Ninh province, was concerned about solutions to achieve the annual credit target, when after the first 9 months of the year it only reached 5.91%. "I request the Governor to inform us of the reasons and solutions to achieve credit growth of 14% as the set target while there are only two months left until the end of 2023," Ms. Van asked.

In response, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said that she had explained this before when discussing the socio-economic situation. The main reasons were low credit demand, reduced business orders, and difficulties in exploiting domestic demand due to people's difficulties after the Covid-19 pandemic. For its part, the State Bank has directed to shorten lending procedures to support people and businesses. Credit conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises have been improved.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan questioned the Governor about removing the credit growth "room". Photo: National Assembly Media

Also questioning about "credit growth", Mr. Nguyen Quang Huan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Halcom Vietnam Joint Stock Company, mentioned the promise to "eliminate credit 'room'". He cited the National Assembly Resolution requesting research to limit and eventually eliminate the allocation of credit growth targets to banks and requested to state the extent of implementation.

The Governor replied that the National Assembly Resolution required research into this management method, but the State Bank agreed that "at this time, it is not possible to abandon the management method of credit allocation". Because currently, the economy's capital demand depends heavily on credit, it is not possible to abandon the credit "room" target while Vietnam's credit growth rate over GDP is at a high level according to the WB's warning.

"We will continue to operate in this way until other segments of the financial market such as corporate bonds meet demand, and removing the method of operating credit allocation will be more feasible," the Governor said.

Disagreeing with Governor Nguyen Thi Hong's answer, Mr. Ha Sy Dong, Standing Vice Chairman of Quang Tri province, asked to know whether maintaining credit targets would create a mechanism of asking for and giving and give rise to negativity or not and when it could be removed.

Delegate Pham Van Hoa. Photo: National Assembly Media

Mr. Pham Van Hoa expressed his concern that there are currently four joint stock commercial banks under special control. "Will there be another SCB in the future?" he asked.

The issues raised by delegates Dong and Hoa will continue to be answered by Governor Nguyen Thi Hong on the afternoon of November 6.

Why not abolish compulsory motorbike insurance?

Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc also received many questions on the morning of November 6, including about compulsory insurance for motorbikes.

Delegate Huynh Thi Phuc questioned the Minister of Finance on the morning of November 6. Photo: Giang Huy

Delegate Huynh Thi Phuc said that voters have repeatedly complained that buying compulsory liability insurance for motorbikes has not brought practical benefits because the compensation procedures are difficult and complicated. Buying this insurance is mainly to avoid being fined by authorities. "What solutions does the Minister of Finance have to make motorbike insurance beneficial to the people? What do you think about the proposal to not make it mandatory to buy motorbike insurance but to let people do it voluntarily?", Ms. Phuc asked.

Responding, Mr. Phoc said that motor vehicle insurance is regulated in the Road Traffic Law and the Insurance Law, so it is mandatory. In the past, motorbike accidents accounted for 64% of traffic accidents. From 2021 to September 2023, insurance companies paid nearly 2,300 billion VND for motorbike accidents. "This shows that the regulations have protected motorbike drivers. Most of them are poor," he said. That is, if they have an accident, they will be paid a maximum of 150 million VND. A vehicle involved in an accident will be paid 50 million VND.

Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc answered questions from the National Assembly on the morning of November 6. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

Regarding solutions to facilitate payment, the Minister said that there are instructions that payment must be made within three days to people who have had accidents. Only if the person's life is affected will a police report be needed. Otherwise, only photos are needed for the insurance company to pay.

On the afternoon of November 6, the three Ministers of Finance, Planning & Investment and Governor Nguyen Thi Hong continued to answer questions from National Assembly deputies.

Hoai Thu - Viet Tuan - Son Ha

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