PROVIDING GUIDANCE FOR CREDIT INSTITUTIONS AND FOREIGN BANK BRANCHES ON GRANTING LOANS FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1. This Circular guides credit institutions and foreign bank branches on granting loans for agricultural and rural sectors in accordance with Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP of the Government on credit policies for agricultural and rural development, which is amende, d by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP.

2. For contents not specified in this Circular, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall comply with the regulations of other relevant legislative documents.

1. Credit institutions and foreign bank branches (FBBs) that grant loans for agricultural and rural development in accordance with clause 1 of Article 2 of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP, which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP, except for the Bank for Social Policies and the Vietnam Development Bank (hereinafter referred to as credit institutions).

2. Borrowers in accordance with Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 2 of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP (hereinafter referred to as borrowers).

3. Other relevant state regulatory authority, organizations and individuals in the process of implementing this Circular.

1. In cases where customers face difficulties due to objective and force majeure reasons as defined in Clause 12 of Article 3 and Clause 1 of Article 12 of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP, which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP, and specifically determined on each occasion by the credit institution and the borrower(hereinafter referred to as specific objective and force majeure reasons), the credit institution shall consider rescheduling outstanding principal and/or interest and maintaining debt group classification of rescheduled debts (principal and/or interest) under the applicable regulations at the most recent time before debt rescheduling under this Circular, based on the borrower's proposal, the financial capacity of the credit institution, and compliance with the following conditions:

a) There exists an outstanding principal incurred before or during the occurrence of the specific objective and force majeure reasons;

b) The outstanding principal and/or interest of each repayment period of the debt to be rescheduled is either undue or overdue by up to 10 (ten) days from the agreed repayment due date;

c) The credit institution determines that the borrower is facing difficulties and unable to repay the principal and/or interest on time as agreed due to specific objective and force majeure reasons, and is capable of fully repaying the principal and/or interest after the debt is rescheduled;

d) A debt may be rescheduled an unlimited number of times; however, the duration granted for each rescheduling for the same specific objective and force majeure reason must not exceed:

i) 12 months from the due date of each outstanding principal and interest of the rescheduled short-term debts;

ii) 36 months from the due date of each outstanding principal and interest of the rescheduled medium-term and long-term debts;

The due date of each outstanding debt rescheduled under this point shall be based on the repayment term and periods most recently agreed upon before it is rescheduled for the first time under this Circular for the same specific objective and force majeure reason.

2. Debts that have been rescheduled under other laws and satisfy the regulations herein may be considered by the credit institution for debt rescheduling in accordance herewith.

For loans for growing, care and regrowing of perennials, credit institutions and their borrowers shall reach an agreement on grace period appropriate to the development phase of the perennials.  A grace period is a period of time starting from the time of disbursement by the credit institutions to the time the borrower starts to pay principal and interest as per their credit agreements.

The maximum deduction rate applicable to collateral of loans in the agricultural and rural sector shall be the same as the maximum deduction rate for collateral stipulated by the Government regarding the provisioning rates, methods for setting up risk provisions, and the use of provisions for handling risks in the operations of credit institutions and FBBs.

1. Credit institutions shall clearly determine and state the loan’s purpose of agricultural and rural development in the loan agreement and credit contract.

2. Credit institutions shall issue internal regulations to ensure uniform implementation across the entire system, including specific regulations on:

a) Debt rescheduling in accordance herewith. To be specific:

i) Criteria for determining borrowers and outstanding debts eligible for rescheduling under this Circular;

ii) Procedures, assignment of responsibilities, delegation of power, and tasks of individuals and departments involved in debt rescheduling under this Circular, ensuring that the decision-makers for debt rescheduling are not the same individuals or departments approving credit, except in cases where credit approval is conducted by the Board of Directors, Board of Members, General Director or Director, or the parent bank (for FBBs). In cases where credit approval and debt rescheduling  approval are decided by councils, the President of the r debt rescheduling council shall not be the President of the credit approval council, and at least two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the debt rescheduling council shall not be members of the credit approval council;

iii) Frequency of reviewing and assessing borrowers’ repayment capacity after debt rescheduling; monitoring, inspecting, controlling, and supervising the debt rescheduling as prescribed hereby;

b) Association loans for agricultural production in compliance with Clause 4 of Article 14 of the Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP (amended by Clause 7 of Article 1 of the Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP);

c) Documentation and procedures for debt deferral in line with Clause 3 of Article 12 of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP, which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP.

3. Credit institutions shall be responsible for:

a) Decisions on debt rescheduling under this Circular, conducting internal inspection and controls to ensure strict supervision, safety, and prevention of abuse of debt rescheduling for profiteering;

b) The completeness, legality, and validity of documents, data, and borrowers applying for debt deferral.

4. Based on the regulations in this Circular and related laws, within 10 (ten) working days from the date of issuance, amendment to internal regulations as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) Credit institutions shall send their internal regulations to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) (Credit Institution Management and Supervision Department), except as provided in point b of this Clause;

b) Credit institutions subject to micro-prudential inspection and supervision by the SBV's Regional Branch shall send their internal regulations to the respective SBV's Regional Branch.

5. Credit institutions shall submit reports to the SBV on outstanding credit in the agricultural and rural sector according to the statistical reporting regime applied to credit institutions and FBBs; quarterly reports (before the 15th of the month following the reporting quarter) on the debt rescheduling according to the Appendix attached hereto.

1. Responsibilities of Department of Credit for Economic Sectors

a) Monitor, urge, and verify reporting forms of credit institutions (excluding people’s credit funds) in accordance herewith;

b) Take charge in giving advice to the Governor of the SBV regarding reviewing and handling of debt deferral applications under Articles 12, 14, 15, and 15a of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP, which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP;

c) Take charge and cooperate with relevant units in giving advice to the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on addressing arising issues during the implementation of this Circular.

2. Responsibilities of the SBV Inspectorate and the Credit Institution Management and Supervision Department

Conduct inspection and supervision of credit institutions’ compliance with the provisions of this Circular within their jurisdiction.

3. Responsibilities of SBV’s regional branches

a) Monitor, urge, and verify reporting forms of people’s credit funds and credit institution branches within their area in accordance with this Circular;

b) Cooperate with the Department of Credit of Economic Sectors in carrying out the procedures for applying for tax deferral under Articles 12, 14, 15, and 15a of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP, which is amended by Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP and Decree No. 156/2025/ND-CP;

c) Conduct inspection and supervision of compliance with this Circular of people’s credit funds and credit institution branches under their supervision.

1. This Circular comes into force from November 15, 2025.

2. The following Circulars shall cease to be effective as of the effective date of this Circular:

a) Circular No. 10/2015/TT-NHNN of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam providing guidance on implementation of Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP dated June 9, 2015, of the Government on credit policies for agricultural and rural development;

b) Circular No. 25/2018/TT-NHNN of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam amending Circular No. 10/2015/TT-NHNN.

3. Heads of units of the SBV, credit institutions, and FBBs shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular./.

 

 

 

1. Regulated entities: Credit institutions (except Bank for Social Policies and Vietnam Development Bank), foreign bank branches (collectively referred to as credit institutions).

2. Reporting deadline: before the 15th of the month following the reporting quarter.

- The head office of the credit institution shall send reports through the Centralized Statistical Reporting System of the State Bank of Vietnam, including:

+ System-wide data;

+ Data of each credit institution branch in the system (if any).

- Data type: integer format, up to 12 digits.

4. Receiving unit: Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, State Bank of Vietnam’s regional branches

- Credit institutions shall report data up to the last day of the quarter immediately preceding the quarterly reporting date.

- Column (3): The outstanding principal (not the entire outstanding debt) that is rescheduled according to this Circular at the end of the reporting period.

- Column (4): The interest amount that is rescheduled according to this Circular at the end of the reporting period.

- Column (5): The number of borrowers with rescheduled outstanding debt according to this Circular at the end of the reporting period (corresponding to the data in columns 3 and 4).

- Column (6): The total outstanding debts (principal and interest) of borrowers with rescheduled outstanding debt according to this Circular at the end of the reporting period (corresponding to the clients listed in column 5).

- Formula for checking on-balance sheet (Allowable error up to VND 1 billion):

+ Line “Total” = Line “1” + Line “2” + Line “3” + Line”4” + Line “5”