Lifebuoys for southern hub firms

Sacombank on July 17 offered loans totalling VND1.11 trillion ($53 million) to 16 companies at an annual rate of 13 per cent for the first three months.

The firms produce and supply consumer goods, foods, pharmaceuticals, building materials and machinery are eligible.

Dong Tam Long An Tiles signed for a VND300 billion ($14.4 million) loan, higher than all the others. Poultry egg supplier Ba Huan and Saigon My Xuan Paper inked for VND100 billion ($4.8 million) each.

Sacombank also cut a deal with Dong Tam Long An to provide cheap capital to its agents to support its distribution channel.

Speaking at a ceremony where the 17 deals were signed, Sacombank CEO Phan Huy Khang said the loans would be disbursed between now and the year’s end.

He said the agreements were part of a Sacombank VND2 trillion ($96.15 million) credit programme on offer at an annual rate of 13 per cent from July 10 and  $50 million for exporters and importers with rates starting from 4.5 per cent a year.

Khang said Sacombank had disbursed more than VND400 billion and $30 million for corporate customers so that they could increase working capital and maintain business operations in the second half this year. So far this year, the lender has run 12 credit programmes for companies with a combined value of VND5.5 trillion and $180 million.

BIDV, Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Agribank are providing VND92 billion ($4.42 million) in loans for 11 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the city’s Tan Binh District at annual rates of 12-13 per cent under deals signed July 9.

OCB deputy director Pham Linh said his bank was offering $25 million in credit to SMEs with an rates of 5.5-6 per cent annually thanks to funds from International Financial Corporation and BNP Paribas. He said OCB had already used up a VND2 trillion ($96 million) set aside for soft loans.

DongABank was running a VND1 trillion ($48 million) credit programme for SMEs and members of the Ho Chi Minh City Young Business Association, said deputy general director Luong Ngoc Quy.

Also in the city, Vietnam’s Eximbank had disbursed more than VND5 trillion ($2.4 billion) in a preferential lending programme launched in June, going hand-in-hand with hedging against exchange rate volatility, with an annual rate of 7 per cent, said Eximbank vice chairman Truong Van Phuoc.