The subsidy will only be applied to loans in the Vietnamese Dong (VND) for investors in such areas as agro-forestry, aquaculture, processing industries, sci-tech development and the purchase and trading in agro-forestry products and salt.

Lenders are State commercial banks, joint stock commercial banks, financial companies, joint venture banks, foreign bank branches operating in Vietnam, wholly-foreign invested banks and the central people’s credit fund.

Subsidised loans will last 24 months.

The government has adopted a 4-percent subsidy programme for short-term bank loans to help businesses weather the global financial turbulence. The programme will end on December 31, 2009.

The newly-signed decision is expected to support the government’s economic recovery efforts, speed up economic restructuring and maintain macro-economic stability.