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| Overview of the discussion. (Photo: nhandan.vn)
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The discussion on social policy credit from the perspective of National Assembly deputies was organized by the People’s Representative Newspaper on November 9. At the event, deputies highly appreciated the effectiveness of social policy credit, while pointing out many challenges and proposing solutions to improve the quality and effectiveness of this capital source.
According to data from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), by the end of October 2024, the total source of social policy credit capital reached 375.8 trillion VND, an increase of 241.1 trillion VND (2.8 times higher) compared to when Directive 40 began to be implemented, with an average growth rate of 10.8% per year.
Typically, 100% of provincial and district-level localities nationwide have paid attention to balancing and arranging the entrusted budget through the VBSP to supplement the loan capital. Accordingly, so far, the amount of entrusted capital has reached 48.9 trillion VND, accounting for 12.8% of the total capital, an increase of 45.1 trillion VND compared to before Directive 40-CT/TW.
“The capital promptly and increasingly meets the borrowing needs of the poor and other policy beneficiaries,” emphasized Deputy General Director of the VBSP Huynh Van Thuan.
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| Deputy General Director of the VBSP Huynh Van Thuan spoke at the event. (Photo: nhandan.vn) |
With this resource, the VBSP has closely coordinated with local authorities and socio-political organizations to quickly, promptly and effectively implement policy credit programs. So far, the total outstanding balance of policy credit programs has reached 358.9 trillion VND, an increase of 229.4 trillion VND (2.8 times higher) compared to the end of 2014 when Directive 40 began to be implemented, with more than 6.8 million poor households and policy beneficiaries still having outstanding balance.
According to the National Assembly deputies, with the achievements, social policy credit has become a “bright spot”, a “pillar” in the poverty reduction policy system, ensuring social security, meeting the aspirations of the people, especially the poor and vulnerable groups in society.
Social policy credit has significantly contributed to reducing the country’s poverty rate from 14.2% in 2011 to 2.93% by the end of 2023 (according to the multidimensional poverty standard).
One of the biggest difficulties shared by Deputy General Director of the VBSP Huynh Van Thuan is capital resources. “Resources for implementing social policy credit programs are still limited compared to the actual needs of the poor and other policy beneficiaries, especially loan programs for job creation and social housing,” said Mr. Thuan.
Standing member of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Phan Duc Hieu also expressed his wish to “have a directive requiring strict implementation of policies on capital allocation for the VBSP.” In addition, to ensure a balanced capital structure, Mr. Hieu suggested using the Government bond channel./.