Business News

The HCM City People’s Committee has made several suggestions for a Ministry of Finance decree to support businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including ensuring bank lending rates are no more than 2 per cent higher than deposit interest rates.

The government proposed a 30-per-cent tax cut on corporate income tax if a company's revenue this year is less than VND200 billion ($8.8 million). It is expected that the state budget revenue will be reduced by about VND2.2 trillion ($97 million) under this plan.

According to the first scenario, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) would grow 5-5.5%, depending on the speed and effectiveness of the vaccination rollout, the re-opening of the economy and the recovery and resumption of major export markets.

A week after the State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 14 on debt rescheduling to alleviate the difficulties faced by businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many individual and corporate borrowers said they are still waiting to hear from banks.

The banking system and credit institutions are the lifeblood of the nation's economy, with digital information in banking and finance set to become one of the key factors in the digital economy, according to experts.

Commercial banks have continuously announced lending interest rate reductions to support and accompany customers to overcome the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic-triggered turbulence continues to gnaw at the consumer finance industry in Vietnam, but some players are exploring potential new approaches to the challenges, particularly from some international investors.

Despite the government coming to the aid of banks and vulnerable businesses in the past year, the latest COVID-19 wave has rendered some debt restructuring and payment scheduling by the country’s central bank less effective than expected.