The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is seeking opinions on the draft Decree on 2% interest rate support (HTLS) for green, circular and ESG projects. One of the contents that received many comments was the proposal to assign the provincial People's Committee the responsibility to prepare an estimate, implement an estimate and settle, and pay direct support to customers.
This proposal received different opinions from ministries and branches.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed to carefully consider the feasibility. According to the Ministry's opinion, the Provincial People's Committee "is not a specialized agency on banking". The Ministry of Justice believes that the assignment of the Provincial People's Committee to determine and conclude on the subjects and conditions for interest rate support is "inconsequential with credit principles, not within its authority" and may cause problems in implementation.
Explaining this content, the SBV said that the regulation aims to "Promoting decentralization and delegation of authority" to local governments. The drafting agency argued that the provincial People's Committee will "closely grasp the practical support needs of businesses" in the area, "contributing to reducing time and procedures".
The State Bank also informed that out of 19/34 Provincial/City People's Committees that have submitted opinions, there are no opposing opinions on whether this regulation is difficult to implement or not within its authority.
The draft has also received the opinion of the Ministry of Public Security from the results of implementing the previous interest rate support policy. The Ministry of Public Security believes that support should be implemented "directly to beneficiaries, instead of through commercial banks" to reduce administrative procedures and increase policy absorption capacity.
In response to these opinions, the SBV has proposed two options on procedures: Option 1 is for localities to implement according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance; Option 2 is to directly stipulate procedures in the Decree.
