Banks support loans of nearly 5,000 billion VND for subjects affected by storm No. 3

On the afternoon of October 7, at the regular Government press conference, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong provided information on the damage caused by storm No. 3 and solutions to support people and businesses.

Estimated damage of about 81.5 trillion VND

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Phuong, this is an unprecedentedly strong storm that has caused huge damage to many provinces and cities. Data shows that, updated to September 27, the estimated damage is about 81.5 trillion VND. In addition, other issues such as public works, infrastructure, large local infrastructure are severely affected and even damaged (such as Phong Chau bridge), or public infrastructure such as: electricity, water, communications, schools...

In addition, according to Mr. Phuong, when updating the Prime Minister on the impact of storm No. 3, the Ministry of Planning and Investment also made a preliminary assessment of the impact on economic growth. Therefore, as soon as the storm passed, the Prime Minister promptly directed the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries and branches to urgently report to the Prime Minister and the Government to have immediate support solutions for those affected by the storm.

According to Mr. Phuong, the Government issued Resolution 143/NQ/CP dated September 17, 2024, the main content of which is key solutions to overcome the consequences of storm No. 3 and quickly stabilize people's lives as well as promote the restoration of production and business in affected areas.

The Resolution includes 6 basic contents, expressing the guiding ideology of the Government and the Prime Minister on the order of priority in solutions, in which priority is given to people, human life and human health, first and foremost, so the first solution is to protect the life, health and safety of the people, then the solutions to restore production and business activities.

Further explanation, according to Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong, in the process of implementing Resolution 143, solutions have been gathered, in which the solutions focus on two aspects: fiscal and monetary solutions.

In particular, when implementing Resolution 143, the financial and banking sector has actively participated. For example, debt restructuring for businesses and families affected by storms and floods (continuing to lend to restore production); or financial policy, which is to continue implementing previous policies applied during the COVID-19 period, such as: extending and postponing the payment of taxes, fees, and charges to create cash flow for businesses and families to recover soon.

In addition, at the request of the Prime Minister, insurance companies urgently review and assess damages to compensate for insurance contracts of affected properties and businesses...

“These are timely policies that immediately impact the damage to businesses and households after the storm to restore production. The encouraging sign is that in reality in Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, in industrial zones, after the storm and flood, businesses have returned to restore production very quickly, after just over a week they can recover,” said Mr. Phuong.

Focus on accelerating from the two "locomotives" of the country

Although industry can recover quickly, according to a representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the agricultural and tourism sectors will be affected longer and will take longer to recover.

Specifically, the agricultural sector, especially seedlings, requires a long time, while livestock farming requires months and quarters to recover. Meanwhile, in the tourism sector, places like Ha Long, where large assets such as sunken ships and boats are located, recovery takes a long time... Therefore, in the report, the Ministry of Planning and Investment also requested the Government to pay more attention to the two sectors of agriculture and tourism, the damaged areas.

In terms of data, the banking sector has supported loans for about 84,500 people affected by the storm, with a total amount of about 5,000 billion VND. The Prime Minister also directed the issuance and allocation of 432.6 tons of rice to relieve hunger, as well as immediately disbursing reserve funds from the central budget to support localities in immediately implementing support for people. Along with that, with the attention and support of many philanthropists, individuals, businesses, and the whole society...

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that the ministry's damage assessment was preliminary and a quick assessment so that the Prime Minister could give timely instructions. However, if the storm had not occurred, the growth figure would have been higher than 7%.

Regarding the 7% growth target according to the construction scenario, Mr. Phuong said that along with the growth results of the third quarter and 9 months, the Ministry of Planning and Investment continued to report to the Prime Minister, the Government still maintains the target of striving for the whole year's growth at 7%, if conditions permit, it can be raised above 7%.

Regarding the solution, Mr. Phuong said that the Ministry of Planning and Investment advised that for localities that are not affected and have potential, they need to share and make more efforts to compensate for the losses of affected localities. In particular, the Ministry of Planning and Investment recommended that there are two key localities that, if they strive for higher growth, will have a very positive impact on the economic growth of the whole country: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, these are the two main locomotives and driving forces of the whole country.

At the press conference, Minister and Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son said that despite being affected by many factors, the socio-economic situation in the first 9 months of 2024 continued to show a positive recovery trend, with each month being better than the previous month and each quarter being higher than the previous quarter. For example, after 9 months, GDP increased by 6.82%, export turnover increased by 15.4%; imports increased by 17.3%; trade surplus is estimated at 20.8 billion USD.