Reviewing the right needs and appropriate level of support
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said that the SBV, together with ministries and branches, is coordinating to review and assess the demand for social housing for each target group, including the need to buy, hire-purchase and rent, in order to accurately determine the necessary scale of support. This is a fundamental step to plan appropriate support policies for each target group. For example, low-income people often have a higher need to rent a house than to buy or hire-purchase, because whether they buy or hire-purchase, they still have to pay monthly installments...
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong
Identifying specific needs helps the State have a basis to balance resources, avoiding spreading. In addition, it is necessary to clearly determine the level of support that can be implemented. The Government and the Prime Minister have strongly directed financial support through preferential interest rate policies. However, careful calculations must be made to ensure priority is given to the right subjects.
"There are people with low incomes who are often only able to rent a house, instead of buying or leasing, so it is necessary to focus policies on this segment. At the same time, interest rate support policies need to be flexibly designed, suitable for payment ability and long-term loan terms," the Governor of the State Bank noted and emphasized that the development of social housing does not stop at policy but must be effectively implemented in the implementation stage. If only discussing the subjects or the right to buy and sell without solving the supply problem, the resolution will lack focus and it is necessary to clearly define the goal of developing the supply of social housing.
In the draft resolution, key solutions have been clearly stated, such as land allocation, approval and publicization of project lists, approval of investment policies and promotion of administrative procedure reform. These contents have been directed by the Government for many years, but the most important thing is how to implement them at all levels.
Meanwhile, in reality, many projects take 10-15 years to complete procedures. This causes businesses to bear prolonged interest costs, reducing investment efficiency. On the side of banks mobilizing capital from people, they still have to pay periodic interest. If the project is behind schedule, interest costs arise, increasing capital costs and reducing credit efficiency. Therefore, if the procedure is shortened to 2-3 years, bank capital will circulate faster, helping many projects qualify for credit access.
Another problem is confirming the correct subjects eligible for loans to buy or rent social housing. Banks need clear confirmation documents to lend, while local confirmation agencies lack consistency. Therefore, it is necessary to complete the confirmation process, avoid overlap and prolong the approval time.
In particular, the new Resolution assigns the State Bank to direct commercial banks to participate in the VND 120,000 billion credit package (now increased to VND 145,000 billion).
This is the capital mobilized by banks from the people, and the preferential interest rate in the first phase is also proactively balanced by banks from their financial resources. Currently, the loan capital of banks is completely ready. However, the disbursement progress depends on the public disclosure of the project list from the local side, as well as the actual needs of businesses and home buyers. Many localities are still stuck in the land allocation and investment procedures, making it impossible for businesses to implement projects, leading to the need for loans not arising. Therefore, in the initial stage, disbursement is still at a low level. The Governor believes that when procedures are removed, disbursement progress will certainly improve.
Diversifying capital channels for social housing
In addition to commercial credit, another important channel is through the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP). The state budget is combined with additional capital mobilized from the VBSP, to lend to buyers or renters of social housing. When the procedures are completed, disbursement will be more convenient.
However, social housing loans often have long terms, while the capital mobilized by banks is mainly short-term. Continuing to mobilize for lending is therefore difficult due to liquidity pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to have additional capital from the state budget or consider the option of issuing bonds guaranteed by the Government to meet the demand for long-term loans, serving the right social security goals.
In addition, experts also propose diversifying socialized capital sources. Accordingly, social housing development enterprises can completely mobilize capital through the stock market. However, due to the long-term nature of the project and the low-income beneficiaries, individual investors are less interested in buying corporate bonds in this field.
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong suggested that one direction that could be considered is to apply a guarantee mechanism. The guarantee source can come from the central budget or from the local budget for qualified enterprises, thereby increasing market confidence, helping enterprises mobilize medium and long-term capital, reducing dependence on bank credit.
"Diversifying capital sources not only helps reduce pressure on the banking system but also contributes to implementing the policy in Directive 40 of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership over social policy credit. This is a long-term, sustainable direction, helping to solve the growing demand for social housing, while promoting the goal of social security and sustainable development," the Governor emphasized.
SBV News/VNBA News