VietNamNet Bridge – Unable to access bank loans, businesses have to play
tricks to seek loans from other different sources.

A report by the State Bank of Vietnam showed that the credit growth rate of the
whole banking system in 2012 was 8.19 percent. Especially, the lending increased
sharply during the 10 last days of the year, while by December 20, the
outstanding loans had increased by 6.45 percent only.

Meanwhile, in January 2013, the credit reportedly decreased by 1.06 percent in
comparison with December 2012.

As such, more than 3,000 trillion dong worth of capital was pumped into the
market in 2012. However, it is not sure that the whole sum of money could reach
businesses and individual clients. Meanwhile, businesses still keep complaining
about the lack of capital, while 55,000 businesses have got dissolved.

Borrowing money from workers, the public

T, a subsidiary of a big group headquartered in Tu Liem district in Hanoi, has
suffered the serious capital shortage since early 2012, simply because its
partners did not make payment on schedule.

The company’s managers then were put on tenterhooks because they could not
collect debts, while the company had owed workers’ salaries for six months by
that time. Meanwhile, T could not borrow money from banks because it did not
have collaterals for the loans, while the holding company refused to give
support.

Finally, T’s managers decided to mobilize capital from its staff. The company
encouraged workers to lend money to the company, promising the interest rates as
high as the bank deposit interest rates and the debt payment on schedule.

Especially, the company’s managers, who have cars and houses, were encouraged to
lend to the company which could be used as the mortgaged assets at the banks for
loans.

However, the company’s managers failed to implement their plan. The sum of money
raised from the staff was modest, because the workers themselves could not
receive their salaries as promised, while many of them were laid off in the
company’s effort to cut down expenses.

Meanwhile, those, who had idle money, refused to lend to the company because
they feared they would not be able to get back money as promised, if the
partners still had not made payment.

As a result, by early February 2013, the company still had owed 4-month salaries
to its workers, while it was unclear about the business prospect in 2013.

In fact, seeking capital from staffs is the solution applied not only by T
Company, but by many other businesses as well.

The director of a construction company in Thanh Xuan district said this is a
favorite measure applied by businesses at this moment. This allows businesses to
get more capital to resume production, while allowing workers to receive high
interests from the lending (in general, businesses accept to pay the interest
rates higher than the bank deposit interest rates to encourage workers to lend
money).

A real estate firm in HCM City has found a new way of raising funds from the
public. It advertised about the project on building apartments for lease at zero
dong.

If clients hand in VND200 million dong to the company, they would be able to
possess a 20 square meter apartment for a certain period of between six months
and two years, while they would have to pay rents every month. They would only
have to pay for electricity and water bills.

After the certain period, if the clients don’t want the apartment any more, they
would get back the VND200 million from the company. Meanwhile, if they want to
buy the apartment, they would get it at preferential prices.

DDDN