Policy loans open new paths for people rebuilding their lives

For people who have completed their prison sentences, timely access to capital can open up opportunities to create jobs, rebuild their livelihoods, stabilise their lives and make a fresh start. After three years of implementation, the policy continues to expand, embracing new regulations.

Image courtesy of VBSP

Nguyen Hong Thanh, a resident of Tung Thien in Hanoi, said that after completing his prison sentence and returning home, finding a job was not easy for people with a history of serving prison terms.

Social stigma limits their employment opportunities. Undeterred, Thanh and his wife decided to borrow $2,000 from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to raise livestock and start a business in their family garden.

Thanh’s wife, Vu Thi Phuong, said the loan enabled the family to renovate its animal sheds, purchase livestock and gradually build up a production model to generate a stable income, support their children’s education and gain greater confidence in their future. “Our monthly income is around $400,” Phuong said.

For Thanh, creating his own livelihood also carries another meaning. “After getting the loan, I renovated things myself and worked from home instead of having to look for a job. When people see what I have achieved, they naturally approach me, and it becomes easier for me when I apply for jobs,” Thanh said.

Similarly, Phan Thi Tan and her husband, residents of Doai Phuong commune in Hanoi, used the VBSP loan to invest about $4,000 in refrigerators and cooling equipment, becoming an agent supplying ice cream and milk to many stores in the area.

The family expects to repay the loan in about three years. Each month, in addition to making a $20 repayment to the bank, the family continues to save money to gradually build up its reserves.

Nguyen Van Chuan, director of Son Tay Transaction Office under Hanoi Branch of VBSP, said, “The repayment schedule is based on each customer’s repayment capacity, keeping each instalment within their means so that borrowers can gradually fulfil their obligations.”

After three years of implementing the credit programme for people who have completed their prison sentences under Decision No.22/2023/QD-TTg dated August 17, 2023 of the Prime Minister, more than 17,600 customer applications have received loans, with total lending exceeding $61.2 million.

The programme has given people who have ‘stumbled’ in the past greater opportunities to create jobs, stabilise their lives and move forward.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang has signed Decision No.44/2026/QD-TTg amending and supplementing a number of provisions of Decision No.22/2023/QD-TTg on credit for people who have completed their prison sentences.

The decision will take effect on November 20, adjusting eligible borrowers, conditions and loan limits, while adding a lending policy for overseas employment.

Accordingly, people who have completed their prison sentences may borrow money for vocational training, production and business activities, job creation and overseas employment under contracts.

Production and business establishments that employ people having completed their prison sentences are also eligible for loans for production, business and job creation.

The period from completion of a prison sentence to the time of applying for a loan has been extended to a maximum of 10 years, from five years previously.

Borrowers must have a demand for loans, be included on the local list of people who have completed their prison sentences and reside in the locality, comply with the law, refrain from involvement in social vices, and obtain certification from commune-level People’s Committees.

Loan limits have also been increased. For vocational training, the maximum loan is $400 per month per person, compared with $160 previously. For production, business and job creation, people who have completed their prison sentences may borrow up to $8,000 per person, compared with $4,000 previously.

Production and business establishments employing those people may borrow up to $400,000 per project and no more than $8,000 per employee, compared with the previous limits of $80,000 and $4,000, respectively.

People who have completed their prison sentences and production and business establishments employing those people may borrow once or multiple times for production, business and job creation, but the total loan amount may not exceed the prescribed maximum.

The new policy also adds loans for overseas employment under contracts. Accordingly, the maximum loan amount is equivalent to 100 per cent of the total costs that customers are required to pay before going to work abroad, excluding amounts already supported by the state budget.

Based on available funding, total costs, the portion supported by the state budget and the borrower’s repayment capacity, VBSP will agree with the borrower on the specific loan amount.

Leveraging programmes implemented under Decision No.22/2023, the credit policy for people who have completed their prison sentences is being expanded in terms of the time available to access loans, borrowing purposes and loan scale, creating greater room for borrowers to create jobs, develop livelihoods and stabilise their lives.

How policy loans help STEM students build their future For many families, policy loans do more than ease the cost of university education – they give young people the time and opportunity to build skills, earn income, and gradually become financially independent.

The ‘infrastructure’ connecting VBSP with borrowers Vietnam’s policy credit system relies on a grassroots network that connects VBSP with borrowers, channels capital to communities, monitors its use and strengthens financial discipline.

Policy credit builds sustainable livelihoods from the grassroots Policy credit is reaching deeper into local communities, turning modest loans into productive livelihoods, jobs and income while creating a grassroots mechanism for sustainable economic development.

From loans to women’s economic empowerment Policy credit is expanding women’s access to finance, from starting businesses and developing production to creating jobs, thereby enabling women to become more economically independent and take greater control of their livelihoods and incomes.