Farmers fear VND100 trillion credit package inaccessible

The government’s announcement about the huge credit package of VND100 trillion to support hi-tech agriculture has caused concern among farmers, who are concerned that they will not be able to satisfy requirements to access the preferential loans.

Some commercial banks said they have reserved trillions of dong for programs to fund hi-tech agriculture projects after the Prime Minister instructed banks to design a VND100 trillion credit package for the agriculture sector.

However, it is unclear if the package can reach farmers, who need capital.

Nguyen Thi Anh, the owner of an orchid and cow farm in Cu Chi district in HCMC, said banks, after assessing the value of her farm and mortgaged assets, only lent VND300 million, not enough for hi-tech production. 

“To have capital, I have to call for capital contribution from relatives or borrow money in the black market,” she said, adding that the capital in the black market is accessible at any time, though the interest rate is exorbitant.

Anh said that the biggest problem for every hi-tech agriculture project is the required capital. 

The government’s announcement about the huge credit package of VND100 trillion to support hi-tech agriculture has caused concern among farmers, who are concerned that they will not be able to satisfy requirements to access the preferential loans.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import & Export, said that many of the programs before were ineffective because farmers could not access preferential loans. If the same thing is repeated with a VND100 trillion credit package, it would not have much significance.

Most recently, a VND60 trillion credit package was launched in November 2016. However, according to Tung, no enterprise can access the package.

“The VND100 trillion package sounds very attractive. However, farmers told me that they don’t put high hopes on it,” he said. 

“Banks will have a lot of requirements to be able to get loans, from equipment and technology to mortgaged assets,” he explained. 

The director of a joint stock bank in HCMC confirmed that farmers can only borrow money if they can satisfy the requirements set by the bank. 

He said that agriculture production is among the risky fields due to natural calamities, epidemics and crop failure. Therefore, it is understandable why shareholders don’t want to pour too much money into agriculture.

Le Ba Chi Nhan, a senior economist, said it is necessary to clarify who would be able to access the VND100 trillion credit package, which banks would provide loans under the program, and how high the interest rate will be. 

He warned that if the disbursement cannot be implemented well, the VND100 trillion would be inaccessible to farmers. The same thing happened with the VND30 trillion credit package: many people with income of less than VND9 million a month could not access it.