Sacombank has donated another VND50 billion (US$2.2 million) to help government agencies in HCM City and Binh Duong Province combat COVID-19 during President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the country’s two pandemic hotspots last week.

It gave VND30 billion ($1.3 million) to the former, VND5 billion and five ventilators each to Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts, and VND5 billion to Binh Duong.

Last month it had donated 15,000 COVID quick test kits worth more than VND2 billion to the Centre for Disease Control of HCM City, 132,000 N95 medical face masks worth nearly VND1.3 billion to a number of agencies, hospitals, people's committees, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of HCM City, VND1 billion to the People's Committee of the city’s Go Vap District to buy equipment for vaccination, 200 million to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the city’s District 3, and VND30 billion to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Long An Province.

Earlier it had contributed VND10 billion to the Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Fund and has set aside another VND10 billion to support organisations like the Fatherland Front Committee, Department of Health, Labour Confederation, and the Red Cross.

The lender has cut interest rates by 1 per cent for both corporate and individual borrowers in industries directly affected by the pandemic such as tourism, travel, transportation, restaurant - hotel - resort, education, and healthcare.

It also continues to reduce or waive services fees, restructure debts and reduce the loan interest rates.

It has earmarked VND10 trillion for preferential loans to corporate customers at interest rates starting at 4 per cent for a maximum tenor of six months to help exporters and other businesses overcome the difficulties posed by the pandemic. — VNS