The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) has reported its total outstanding debt in 2015 at nearly VND 143 trillion (USD 6.4 billion), up more than 10 percent compared to 2014.

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Strong growth was seen in preferential loans for near-poor households, credit for rural water supply and sanitation, and lending to household production and business activities in hard areas.

In 2015, the VBSP carried out a line-up of comprehensive measures to improve credit quality. Of the total outstanding debt, overdue debt and frozen debt accounted for just 0.78 percent and decreased by VND 32 billion (USD 1.4 million) compared to 2014.

During the year, nearly 2.4 million poor and near poor households, families having just escaped from poverty and other welfare policy beneficiaries got access to VBSP’s preferential loans.

The loans helped over 400,000 families overcome poverty, created jobs for 180,000 labourers and supported 102,000 disadvantaged students. Credit programs run by the bank also built some 1.36 million clean water and sanitation facilities, over 5,300 storm and flood shelters in the central region and 2,500 other houses in the Mekong Delta region.

Source: VNA