State Bank of Vietnam reports government priorities for Vietnam Bank for Social Policies including cheaper funding and 30% cut in administrative procedures

The State Bank of Vietnam published an update on a government working session chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc reviewing the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and setting operational priorities for the period ahead. The directions focus on reorganising the bank’s structure while preserving its customer network, diversifying low-cost funding sources, accelerating digital transformation, and simplifying end-to-end lending processes, including a target to reduce administrative procedures by at least 30%. VBSP reported total social policy credit resources of over VND 416 trillion, including VND 58.783 trillion entrusted from local government budgets, with outstanding loans of over VND 376 trillion and more than 6.8 million households currently borrowing. It also highlighted delivery at scale over 23 years, including nearly 47.9 million borrower instances, and recent government-assigned programmes such as Covid-19 support loans of VND 4.829 trillion to 1,548 employers to pay wages for over 1.2 million workers. Asset quality indicators cited include a decline in the combined overdue and rescheduled debt ratio from 13.75% of outstanding loans in 2002 to 0.55%, with overdue debt at 0.19% as of 20 March 2025. The Deputy Prime Minister asked the State Bank of Vietnam and relevant agencies to study and advise the Government on policies for youth borrowing to buy homes and for loans linked to purchasing or rent-to-own of social housing, and assigned ministries and agencies to handle VBSP’s specific proposals within their mandates.