Credit policy for shrimp and catfish farmers.

The Prime Minister has just issued Decision No. 540/QD-TTg on credit policy for shrimp and catfish farmers. This decision stipulates the handling of overdue and restructured debts of customers who are households, farm owners, and cooperatives raising shrimp and catfish and facing difficulties in production, business, and debt repayment to credit institutions up to December 31, 2013.

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The decision stipulates that credit institutions shall handle the debts of customers experiencing temporary difficulties in repayment as follows: Debt restructuring for a maximum of 36 months (including the period already under restructuring); no overdue interest or penalty interest shall be collected on restructured debts; priority shall be given to collecting principal first, then interest; in cases where the customer has repaid the principal but not all interest, the credit institution shall negotiate with the customer to develop a plan for gradual collection over the following years; interest shall be waived or reduced according to the credit institution's regulations.

Regarding the handling of overdue debts of customers unable to repay due to objective reasons or force majeure, the Decision stipulates that credit institutions, based on confirmation from the People's Committee at the commune level regarding the customer's difficulties due to objective reasons or force majeure (natural disasters, epidemics, etc.), may decide to freeze the debt for a period of 3 years. Credit institutions, based on the actual situation, require eligible customers to complete the debt freezing procedures and compile a report to the State Bank of Vietnam before July 31, 2014.

During the debt restructuring period, the credit institution calculates interest but does not collect it from the customer; if the customer repays the full principal after 3 years, the interest is waived; if the customer fails to repay the principal, the credit institution will handle the matter according to the provisions of the law.

For the amount of interest that customers have not paid up to the time of debt restructuring, credit institutions will consider waiving or reducing interest in accordance with current regulations (excluding overdue interest and penalty interest).

At the same time, credit institutions continue to classify loans and make provisions for risk according to the loan categories currently applied to the loans at the time of loan restructuring.

Continue providing new loans.

The State Bank of Vietnam will provide refinancing loans corresponding to the amount of debt restructured by credit institutions for their customers, at an interest rate of 0% per year. The refinancing term is 364 days and is automatically renewed annually for a period of 3 years. The State Bank of Vietnam will disburse funds to credit institutions based on the list of eligible customers for debt restructuring reported by the credit institutions.

Furthermore, the Decision also stipulates that credit institutions may continue to consider granting new loans to customers to restore production and business activities based on effective and feasible business plans, regardless of the debts that have been written off according to the provisions of this Decision.

According to chinhphu.vn