Vietnam on October 20 signed agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for two loans worth 600 million USD to help the country cope with the impact of the global economic crisis and support policy reform.
The first loan worth 500 million USD, with a term of five years, is sourced from the bank’s Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF). It will help finance the country’s critical public expenditure programmes in 2009 and 2010.
The CSF, established in June 2009, is a programme designed to help ADB's developing member countries prevent economic recession. The CSF loan will reduce pressure on the state budget in financing the economic stimulus package and poverty reduction programmes in Vietnam.
The second loan of 100 million USD is aimed at supporting the Vietnamese government to conduct a wide range of policy reforms in the areas of business development, social integration, natural resource management, and governance.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said that since late 2008, Vietnam has had to cope with the negative socio-economic impact of the global financial crisis, and thereby has undertaken various stimulus measures, including an interest rate support package.
Despite the successes attained so far in boosting the economy, Vietnam still needs extra capital sources for its continued programmes on preventing economic recession and maintaining growth, Giau said.
He underlined that the CSF loan is extremely necessary for the Government’s comprehensive package of measures to facilitate economic recovery in the short-tem and promote poverty reduction in the long-term./.