Creating capital to help people escape poverty

In recent years, thanks to policy credit capital, many households in Thanh Ba commune have risen out of poverty and have a more fulfilling life. That result is partly due to the significant contribution of the Thanh Ba Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, which helps subjects access policy capital, thereby reducing poverty, creating jobs, ensuring social security, and developing the local socio-economy.

Following the officers and leaders of the Thanh Ba branch of the Social Policy Bank as they inspected the use of loan capital at the grassroots level, it became clear that from the officers to the branch leaders, they are always closely involved with the local area – wherever there are policy beneficiaries in need of capital, they are always ready to be there.

After implementing the two-tiered local government model, have your operations changed in any way? I asked Mr. Duong Anh Tuan, Director of the Thanh Ba branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (NHCS), and he enthusiastically shared: “To date, all activities of the branch are still being carried out normally, and capital is still reaching the right recipients. Currently, the branch still maintains 19 transaction points, but now covers 6 communes with 298 savings and loan groups, with outstanding loans exceeding 500 billion VND...”.

Total outstanding loans as of September 30th reached over 500 billion VND, an increase of nearly 23 billion VND compared to the beginning of the year. Currently, the branch is managing 17 loan programs, many of which have high outstanding loan balances, such as loans for poor households, near-poor households, newly escaped poverty households, clean water and sanitation... Loan disbursements since the beginning of the year have reached nearly 95 billion VND with more than 1,500 households receiving loans, and loan collection since the beginning of the year has reached approximately 80 billion VND.

Thanks to this capital, many poor households and policy beneficiaries have had the opportunity to develop their economy , increase their income, stabilize their lives, contribute to job creation, and ensure social security. On average, each year, the branch office disburses loans to hundreds of poor households, near-poor households, households that have escaped poverty, and other policy beneficiaries.

Accordingly, poor and near-poor households and policy beneficiaries in Thanh Ba commune have been able to access preferential capital from the Social Policy Bank to develop production, increase income, alleviate poverty, and gradually improve their lives; actively contributing to achieving the goal of poverty reduction and ensuring social security in the area.

Leaders of the Thanh Ba branch of the Social Policy Bank visited and inspected the production development loan model of Ms. Le Thi Phuong's family, a poor household in Zone 2, Hanh Cu.

Many years ago, Ms. Le Thi Phuong's family was a poor household in Zone 2, Hanh Cu. Thanks to the help of the commune's associations and organizations, along with the commune's Credit and Savings Center, Ms. Phuong's family accessed preferential loans from the Social Policy Bank. With an initial capital of 50 million VND, she invested in pig and free-range chicken farming.

Through learning and years of accumulated experience, Ms. Phuong's family's livestock farming model has proven effective. After escaping poverty and paying off all debts, Ms. Phuong's family was given the opportunity to borrow 100 million VND in poverty alleviation funds to expand their investment model in cattle farming and tea cultivation.

Ms. Phuong affirmed: "During the most difficult times, the loan capital from the Social Policy Bank helped my family overcome challenges and gradually achieve a stable life. Today, my family owns a flock of over 100 chickens, one acre of tea, seven acres of rice, two acres of corn, cows, pigs, etc."

Similarly, the family of Le Tat Thang, also in Zone 2, received a business loan of 50 million VND from 2021 to 2024 and has repaid both principal and interest. With the loan, Mr. Thang invested in planting and caring for tea plants. Currently, his family owns over 3 hectares of land for paper pulp production, 1 hectare of tea plants, and produces green tea. Each year, his family harvests about 8-9 tons of fresh tea, which, after processing, yields nearly 550 kg of dried tea. To date, Mr. Thang's family has risen out of poverty and now lives in a spacious house.

At Loan Group No. 2, Hanh Cu currently has 48 members who have implemented loan programs such as: poor households, households escaping poverty, near-poor households, students, housing, clean water, job creation, etc. To date, the outstanding loan balance of the Loan Group is 3.323 billion VND, with no overdue loans.

In addition, the group implemented digital transformation to open bank accounts for its members. This allows households working far from home to conveniently transfer money to their accounts to pay interest without having to return in person. Simultaneously, group leaders no longer need to visit each household to check their accounts as before, saving time and making it easier for people to borrow capital.

Mr. Le Tat Thang, residing in Zone 2, Hanh Cu, received a loan from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Bank to invest in planting and caring for tea, yielding high returns.

Comrade Duong Anh Tuan - Director of the Thanh Ba Branch of the Social Policy Bank, said: Currently, the branch continues to implement many credit programs such as: preferential loans for poor households, near-poor households, and newly-escaped-poverty households; loans for job creation, clean water programs, loans for students...

In addition, the branch office consistently follows the directives of the higher-level bank and local authorities, focusing on mobilizing financial resources and promptly transferring funds to the intended beneficiaries. Simultaneously, it strengthens the review of eligible recipients, compiles capital needs, and implements comprehensive solutions to increase outstanding loan balances.

Simultaneously, accelerate the disbursement of funds according to the assigned credit growth plan, strengthen guidance to relevant organizations to focus on reviewing and accurately assessing due debts, effectively controlling the 발생 of overdue debts, and paying attention to handling cases of overdue and delinquent debts. Strive to achieve an overdue debt ratio of below 0.06%.

At the same time, the branch office also strengthened inspection work for entrusted units, savings and loan groups, and customers. This ensures the absolute safety of personnel and assets in the operation of these units and prevents any negative practices in policy credit activities.

The coordination between the Social Policy Bank and entrusted socio- political organizations has contributed to the effective implementation of democratic and fair loan selection for households receiving preferential loans, as well as facilitating the provision of preferential loans to employers, for paying wages during work stoppages, for resuming production, or for workers facing difficulties in changing occupations.

With the results achieved, the credit capital of the Social Policy Bank of Thanh Ba commune continues to be deployed in the area, actively contributing to the implementation of national target programs for sustainable poverty reduction, job creation, ensuring social security, building new rural areas in the locality, as well as successfully achieving the targets set forth in the Resolution of the First Party Congress of the commune.

Dinh Tu

Source: https://baophutho.vn/tao-nguon-von-giup-nguoi-dan-thoat-ngheo-241418.htm