Thanks to the Govern-ment's credit programmes, more than 25.5 million needy households were provided with preferential loans during 2005-14, which saved some 3.6 million households from poverty and generated jobs for 11 million locals. — Photo yenbai

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed a decision to lower lending rates for needy households, policy beneficiaries, and students seeking loans at Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP).

Under Decision 750/QD-TTg, beneficiaries will be offered loans at a new interest rate of 6.6 per cent per year, instead of 7.2 per cent.

Interests on loans for projects related to clean water supply and hygiene improvement in rural areas, as well as business households in disaster-hit areas, will be also cut from 9.6 per cent to 9 per cent per year. The decision will be applicable to new loans issued from June 5.

The interest rate cut is expected to help the poor have easier access to bank loans, apart from contributing to sustainable hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

According to reports from the VBSP, the total amount of loans given to policy beneficiaries reached VND129.456 trillion (US$5.965 billion) by the end of last year, with most of it going to regions with a high poverty rate such as the northwest, Central Highlands, and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Thanks to the Govern-ment's credit programmes, more than 25.5 million needy households were provided with preferential loans during 2005-14, which saved some 3.6 million households from poverty and generated jobs for 11 million locals.

The VBSP has set up nearly 11,000 transactions offices nationwide since its launch more than a decade ago. — VNS