By Trung Ngoc
December 04, 2018 | 09:57 PM GMT+7
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $100 million policy-based loan to develop Vietnam’s finance sector, aiming to support long-term economic growth and tackle rising income inequality.
The Financial Sector Development and Inclusion Program represents a medium to a long-term partnership in finance sector development between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Vietnamese Government.
The program is consistent with the government’s socio-economic development strategy, 2011–2020, and ADB’s strategy 2030 in addressing the remaining poverty and income inequality.
“Vietnam’s economic performance in recent years has been impressive but reforms remain incomplete, especially those related to the finance sector," said ADB Financial Sector Economist Duong Nguyen.
"In addition, the limited financial inclusion could exacerbate the rising income inequality and impact long-term sustainable economic growth,” added he.
Duong said that this program would support the government’s efforts to strengthen financial stability, develop domestic capital markets, and enhance financial inclusion,” Duong added.
The program supports several government reforms to strengthen, deepen, and broaden the outreach of Viet Nam’s formal finance sector.
These include improvements in the legal and regulatory framework to resolve non-performing loans and restructure weak credit institutions, the creation of an enabling environment for the money market and government bond market development, and policy measures to introduce the market-based approach to financial inclusion through microfinance and financial technology.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
