Implementing the policies and directions of the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam on implementing solutions to support people and businesses with loans to overcome difficulties, stabilize lives, and resume production and business, right from the beginning of 2024, Agribank continues to adjust and reduce lending interest rates.

Accordingly, from January 1, 2024, Agribank will continue to adjust the interest rate policy for medium-term and long-term loans catering to production and business activities, loans catering to daily needs at low interest rates with a fixed interest rate of only 7.0% p.a., the application period is extended from 12 months to 24 months. At the same time, adjust the floor interest rate for medium-term and long-term loans for the real estate business sector by 0.5%/year.

With the current lending interest rates, Agribank continues its strong message of sharing difficulties, supporting people and businesses in optimizing loan costs, promptly supplementing capital to restructure operations, especially for priority areas.

In 2023, based on reducing capital mobilization costs, Agribank made eight adjustments to reduce lending interest rates, whereby lending interest rates fell sharply from 1.3-4% p.a. compared to the beginning of the year.

In addition, Agribank also implemented many lending interest rate policy programs such as lending to the forestry and fisheries sector, interest rate support program according to Decree No. 31/2022/ND-CP; social housing loan program according to Resolution 33/NQ-CP, loans to support individuals receiving salaries from budget, loans to support health workers; program to support rice industry enterprises in the Mekong Delta Region, etc.

Along with reducing lending interest rates, Agribank has implemented 3 interest rate reduction programs for existing loans of nearly 2 million customers with an estimated interest reduction amount of more than VND 1,000 billion in 2023 and will continue to implement in 2024.

Sharing at the press conference on implementing banking tasks in 2024 on the morning of January 3, Mr. Pham Chi Quang, Director of the Monetary Policy Department, said that in 2023, the State Bank has made efforts to reduce lending interest rates to stimulate economic capital flow in the economy.

"Mobilization interest rates in market 1 also decreased rapidly. The average deposit interest rate for new transactions of 3.9% p.a., for new loan transactions of 6.7% p.a. , decreased by 2.5 percentage points compared to the end of 2022," Mr. Quang reported.

Kylie Nguyen