They were speaking at a recent conference on bank credit and the implementation of Circular 02/2023.

Phung Thi Binh, deputy general director of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the biggest hindrance was the absence of eligible projects.

The Ministry of Construction’s decision on April 24 assigned provincial authorities to announce lists of social housing projects eligible for accessing soft loans, yet these lists are nowhere to be found.

Thus, more time is needed to roll out the package, said Le Ngoc Lam, general director of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam.

“Banks are prepared to give new loans, but projects face difficulties with procedures, leading to slow credit growth,” he added.

The banking sector has several ways to make loans available for investors and buyers of social housing projects, but it requires authorities to accelerate paperwork, said Nguyen Quoc Hung, general secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association.

The VND120-trillion credit package is designed to develop homes for the poor and workers and renovate or re-build aging apartment blocks.

Source: Saigon Times