Large credit package but small amount of disbursement
Regarding the disbursement of the preferential credit package of 120,000 billion VND for social housing development, the Ministry of Construction said that in addition to 4 banks BIDV, Vietinbank, Vietcombank and Agribank committed to lend 120,000 billion VND according to Resolution 33 of the The Government, TPBank and VPBank have registered to participate in the program, the amount of money each bank commits to lend for social housing development is 5,000 billion VND. Thus, up to now the amount committed to loans for social housing development by 6 banks is 130,000 billion VND.
However, by the end of the first 6 months of 2024 according to a report from the Ministry of Construction, the amount of money banks have disbursed to date is only about 1% of the credit package size with a figure of just over 1,200 billion VND. , which lent 32 billion VND to home buyers.
This shows that people in need are hesitant to access this support loan package. The reason pointed out by many experts and businesses involved in social housing development is that this loan interest rate is still high, not really attractive to investors and social housing buyers.
Besides, the procedures for borrowing capital from the 120,000 billion VND preferential loan package are too complicated, some businesses have traveled dozens of times and still have not been able to borrow capital.
Proposal to lower interest rates on loans to buy social housing
Because of the above problems, the Ministry of Construction has just proposed to the Prime Minister to increase the loan term and lower the interest rate on loans to buy social houses after Vingroup and Techcombank signed a proposal to send to this ministry a credit program for social house buyers with Lower interest rates and longer loan terms than the 120,000 billion VND incentive package being deployed by 4 state-owned commercial banks.
Notably, the loan interest rate for social housing buyers is equal to the interest rate applied by the Bank for Social Policies from time to time (currently this interest rate is about 4.8%/year and fixed for 5 years). Firstly). The loan term also applies up to 30 years with the collateral being the house itself. In particular, the maximum loan level for purchasing social housing is up to 100% of the value of the social housing purchase contract.
In the opinion of many experts, this direction can be said to be the solution to the long-standing interest rate bottleneck for social housing people.
Economic expert Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, Investment Director of DG Capiatai, said that when the average interest rate on people's deposits at commercial banks is currently about 5-6%/year, low-income people have to borrow to buy money. A house with a preferential loan interest rate of 7.5%/year is unreasonable. This person also frankly pointed out that the majority of workers with low average income cannot bear the interest rate on loans to buy social housing at the current rate of 7.5%/year.
For low-income people, the current interest rate of 7.5%/year under the VND 120,000 billion credit package is still very high. Not to mention, after the 5 years of incentives expire, borrowers do not know what interest rate they will face? Therefore, a policy of lending capital to social housing buyers with low interest rates and long loan terms is necessary. If it is a preferential loan for the purpose of supporting low-income people to buy social housing, it should be maintained at a level lower than or at least equal to the interest mobilized by banks, Dr. Phuong stated.
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, said that the interest rate after the end of the 5-year preferential period is the reason why social housing buyers are hesitant to borrow. At the same time, adjusting preferential interest rates every 6 months also makes borrowers more insecure.
According to Mr. Chau, in addition to the supply of cheap houses, to address the need for housing for low-income people, there should be a credit package with an interest rate of 4.8-5%/year, maximum loan term of 25 years. year.
Proposal to buy social housing with an interest rate 3% lower than the average interest rate
The State Bank proposed that the Government reduce the interest rate for loans to buy social housing at 3% compared to the average interest rate of the big 4.
At the press conference on banking activities in the first 6 months of the year and implementing tasks in the last 6 months of the year organized by the State Bank on July 23, Standing Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu shared about the new points of the credit package. Using 120,000 billion VND for preferential loans to develop social housing and worker housing. Accordingly, since its implementation in April 2023, the disbursement results of this package have been very low.
According to statistics from the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, up to now, the amount of capital disbursed by commercial banks is 1,344 billion VND, of which 1,295 billion VND is for investors and 4.9 billion VND for home borrowers. Among them, Agribank disbursed the most.
To support borrowers in buying social housing, Mr. Dao Minh Tu said that the State Bank has proposed that the Government reduce interest rates for home loans, 3% compared to the average interest rate of 4 banks with state capital. The proposed incentive level will increase by 1% compared to the current applied level of 2%. The loan interest rate determination time is every 3 months, shortened by half compared to today.
The preferential period is 5 years instead of 3 years as before. The bank will continue to offer preferential interest rates to borrowers at a minimum 1-2% lower than commercial loan interest rates instead of the current floating regulation.
The Deputy Governor emphasized: "The lending policy with investors will remain the same as it is now. In addition, the State Bank encourages banks as well as large economic corporations to promote social housing, creating conditions for low-income people to borrow to buy social housing.
Virtue
