Trung Chanh
Workers select tra fillets at a processing factory. Many enterprises are still finding it diffi cult to access low-interest loans for the aquaculture sector - Photo: TL
According to Document No. 1691 released on March 19, the central bank has told Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank and MHB to cut the lending rate cap for the sector to 8% per annum, the next move after the ceiling deposit rate was slashed to 6% per annum on the previous day.
However, many enterprises and farming households still bemoan a host of hindrances to bank loans.
Speaking to the Daily, Nguyen Ngoc Hai, head of Thoi An Tra fish farming cooperative in Can Tho City, said that lending conditions of banks were not suitable to the current market conditions.
Banks do not make unsecured loans and they require borrowers to have mortgage assets. However, farmers had already used all their properties as collateral for bank loans to finance their losses over the years, so they were unable to take out more bank loans now, Hai said.
Nguyen Van Kich, general director of Cafatex Group in Hau Giang Province, said that to speed up development of the sector, the central bank should create favorable conditions for borrowing and cut lending rates to 4-6% per annum.
Vo Dong Duc, director of Can Tho Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, said the Tra fish farming industry had been trapped in a chronic supply-demand imbalance, export risks and falling prices. Many firms in the industry have suffered losses.
Banks had been cautious in extending loans to seafood firms due to high risks in the industry. Credit ceilings for the sector now range from 40 to 60% of those in 2012, Duc said.
Nguyen Van Nhiem, chairman of My Thanh shrimp association in Soc Trang Province, said that credit approval was a little bit easier than in his locality. Besides secured loans, Agribank has also given loans to enterprises having feasible projects and whose debts have been rescheduled.
Speaking at a recent seminar in the Mekong Delta, Nguyen Viet Manh, head of the credit department under the central bank, said that farm produce and fruits were strengths of the region, but the products usually face high risks due to global prices and anti-dumping laws.
In addition, unhealthy competition and ineffective investment of some enterprises have made banks hesitant at extending loans to this sector, he said.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
