Businesses in Dong Nai have called for reducing bank interest rates and restructuring debt repayment to enable them to resume operations now that the COVID-19 pandemic is basically under control.

Nguyen Trong Tu, director of Trieu An Production Trading Co, said his business incurred huge losses during the pandemic last year. After it seemed to be under control, he borrowed money from a bank to renovate his factory, but the fourth wave of COVID had hit his prospects hard, he said.

Strict social distancing caused his company to suspend operations for months, causing customers to cancel orders, he said.

Since he had some money saved, he was able to survive previous waves, but now he had run out, he said, adding the risk of going bust would be very high if he could not get the loan interest reduced, frozen or rolled over.

Besides debt rollover, businesses also want fresh credit to buy raw materials, but said it was very difficult to get new loans because most of their assets had been mortgaged already.

The provincial People's Committee chairman Cao Tien Dung said the demands made by businesses, especially with regard to cash flows to revive production, were valid and should be addressed.

The State Bank of Viet Nam should consider loosening lending policies further, he said.

According to banks, they too have been hit hard by the pandemic since many customers have been failing to repay loans.

“It is very difficult for the banks to sharply reduce loan interest rates at this time.” — VNS