On the afternoon of June 23, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MARD), the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in coordination with Lao Dong Newspaper organized the Workshop "Improving the efficiency of green credit capital flows, a driving force for economic growth".
At the workshop, representatives of the two management agencies pointed out that green credit has increased rapidly, but the gap between the transitional needs of the economy and the ability to meet capital is still large. The bottleneck lies not only in interest rates, but also in the structure of capital sources, the ability to identify green projects, data for appraisal and the monitoring mechanism after the money is disbursed.
Long-term capital pressure pours on the banking system
Ms. Ha Thu Giang - Director of the Credit Department for Economic Sectors, SBV - shared that the banking industry has gradually formed a system of policies to lead capital into green sectors.
Credit institutions must implement environmental risk management in credit granting according to Circular 17/2022/TT-NHNN. Credit policies for agriculture have also supplemented incentives for clean, organic, high-tech agriculture and production according to the circular economy model.
With the Sustainable Development Project for one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta, lending interest rates are at least 1%/year lower than the normal level. Many banks are simultaneously developing green deposits, green bonds and separate credit products for each industry. However, according to Ms. Giang, green projects often require large capital and long recovery time, while the banking system must balance mobilized capital sources and ensure liquidity safety.
The capital demand for socio-economic development and green transformation of the economy is very large, while the ability to balance resources of the banking system still faces many challenges" - Ms. Giang stated.
International capital is not easily accessible due to high costs, exchange rate risks and complicated procedures. Meanwhile, the green bond market and the domestic carbon market have not developed synchronously to provide more medium and long-term capital.
The SBV is completing a policy to support interest rates of 2%/year from the budget for private enterprises, households and individuals doing business borrowing capital to implement green, circular projects or apply ESG standards. Notably, Ms. Giang proposed to innovate the support method in the direction that localities directly implement interest rate support for customers with projects in the area. This approach aims to increase decentralization, closely identify beneficiaries and overcome the limitations of support through commercial banks in the past.
The green list is just the beginning
From the perspective of environmental management, Mr. Nguyen Hong Quang - Deputy Director of the Department of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - analyzed that the legal framework for green credit has made clear progress.
If the Law on Environmental Protection in 2014 only included green credit in the group of encouraged activities, the Law in 2020 has dedicated Article 149 to regulate this field. Decree 08/2022/ND-CP continues to stipulate incentive mechanisms and roadmaps for implementing green credit.
The next step forward is Decision 21/2025/QD-TTg on environmental criteria and the confirmation of projects belonging to the green classification list. This is the basis for the parties to be more unified in determining which projects can be considered for green credit or green bond issuance.
However, according to Mr. Quang, the new list has been issued, so more technical guidance on how to evaluate and confirm projects is needed; and at the same time, it is necessary to build a team of experts and a database to serve appraisal.
Many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, do not have enough capacity to prepare environmental records, measure emissions, or meet ESG reporting requirements. Therefore, some projects want to transition to green but cannot fully prove it to access capital.
Another issue emphasized by Mr. Quang is that environmental efficiency must be monitored even after disbursement. Green credit not only requires projects to be able to repay debts, but also to determine emission reduction levels, resource efficiency, adaptability to climate change and other environmental benefits.
If there is a lack of measurement indicators and inspection mechanisms, the project may be certified as green at the time of borrowing but does not generate results as committed. This is also a gap that gives rise to the risk of "greening".
Vietnam's current challenge lies in organizing the implementation and effective operation of the policy system and forming a synchronous, transparent and measurable green credit ecosystem" - Mr. Quang assessed.
Data must become the infrastructure of green credit
Sharing the same view on data bottlenecks, Ms. Ha Thu Giang and Mr. Nguyen Hong Quang both believe that banks need to have full access to information to appraise and supervise loans.
Ms. Giang proposed building a public database on environmental impact assessment reports, environmental permits and business law compliance status. This is the basis for banks to check dossiers, assess risks and monitor projects after disbursement.
Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the unit will continue to complete guidance on identifying green projects, circular projects and ESG application projects; review green classification criteria and coordinate with specialized ministries to update the list to suit each field.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Credit Department for Economic Sectors said that the SBV will continue to improve the credit mechanism, guide credit institutions to implement support policies and improve appraisal capacity. Banks must include green and ESG criteria in internal procedures; businesses must be transparent in business plans and environmental information.
Thus, interest rate support may reduce capital costs, but cannot replace the assessment of financial and environmental efficiency. When the project is correctly identified, the data can be verified and the results are monitored to the end, green credit will both ensure capital safety and create real momentum for economic growth.
