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| Agribank provides social welfare support in Phu Xuan Ward |
Proactive Support
Right after the flood peak passed - while many areas were still inundated - the Central Region Representative Office of Agribank and Agribank Hue Branch directly visited 20 communes, wards, schools, and medical centers severely flooded to offer encouragement and social welfare support. At each location, Agribank provided 50 million VND, totaling 1 billion VND. They also provided an additional 1 billion VND to schools, medical centers, and heavily damaged units.
Currently, Agribank is urgently reviewing and assessing the losses of customers to implement appropriate credit support policies, debt rescheduling, and interest rate reductions to help residents and businesses resume production and stabilize life after the natural disaster.
Speaking at the recent Agribank Hue Branch social welfare support event after the floods, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Chairwoman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Kim Long Ward, shared that the recent floods caused substantial damage to residents and businesses in the ward. Therefore, besides social welfare support, the ward hopes banks will actively implement support policies to help residents and businesses access capital for production recovery, reduce loan interest rates, and restructure repayment schedules for customers still holding outstanding loans who are affected by the flooding. These are long-term solutions that accompany local government, residents, and businesses in economic development.
According to the surveys conducted by Agribank’s city branch, 13,171 customers were directly affected by the floods, with outstanding loans totaling 5,536 billion VND. Of this, 789 billion VND are loans under Government Decree 55/2015/NĐ-CP for agricultural and rural development credit policies; the damaged outstanding balance is 1,286 billion VND. Agribank Hue Branch promptly visited and encouraged heavily affected customers and requested ABIC (Agribank Insurance Joint Stock Corporation) to quickly inspect and assess damages to proceed with compensation procedures.
Mr. Tran Dinh Khoai, Deputy Director of Agribank Hue Branch, said: “Alongside our business mission, Agribank always accompanies local authorities and residents in overcoming natural disasters. For now, social welfare support has been deployed. Agribank Hue Branch is assessing the difficulties customers are facing after the floods to provide timely solutions, including preferential loans and interest rate support policies.”
Not only Agribank, but other banks in the area are also carrying out various social welfare activities and identifying customer difficulties under the direction of the State Bank of Vietnam to urgently implement support measures for customers affected by storms and floods.
Earlier Policies Offer Stronger Support
Chairman of the City Business Association, Mr. Tran Van My said that support policies must be implemented early to help residents and businesses reduce financial pressure and accelerate production and business recovery. The City Business Association has sent a document to the State Bank’s Region 9 office requesting interest rate support and debt extension for businesses affected by the floods.
Accordingly, the City Business Association recommends that the State Bank’s Region 9 office direct commercial banks in the area to consider reducing current lending interest rates by 2–4% per year for short-, medium-, and long-term loans held by businesses affected by the disaster. Banks are encouraged to introduce new preferential credit packages for businesses impacted by natural disasters, especially those in the sectors of production, trade, services, tourism, and education–training. At the same time, banks in the area should restructure loan repayment schedules, consider extending or deferring principal and interest payments for businesses affected by natural disasters; temporarily maintain current debt classifications for heavily affected businesses that are unable to repay due to force majeure; and refrain from recalling loans early or tightening credit on existing loans of businesses in flood-affected areas.
Director of the State Bank, Region 9, Le Anh Xuan, recently requested the banks to implement measures to support customers in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters. This includes reviewing and assessing the operational and business situation, as well as the repayment capacity of borrowers affected by natural disasters, so that timely support measures can be applied to ease their difficulties. Banks are focusing on restructuring loan repayment terms, reducing or waiving interest and fees for affected customers in accordance with current regulations; implementing programs and credit packages with interest rates lower than normal lending rates to help restore production and business; and reducing lending rates by 0.5%–2% per year for 3–6 months for existing loans held by customers impacted by storms and floods. At the same time, banks must handle debts for customers suffering losses in accordance with regulations.
As for the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, the Director of the State Bank’s Region 9 office requested it to fully implement the tasks assigned under Government Resolution No. 347/NQ-CP dated October 24, 2025, which outlines key measures to urgently overcome the consequences of natural disasters, quickly stabilize people’s livelihoods, accelerate the restoration of production and business activities, actively promote economic growth, and effectively control inflation.