Businesses have once again shouted for help as they are coming closer to bankruptcy because of the fourth Covid-19 outbreak.

The latest Covid-19 outbreak has pushed enterprises into new difficulties at a time when it is nearly impossible to access cheap capital sources.

As of March, more than 6.4 million poor and near-poor households had won access to loans from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP).

Poor sales, supply chain disruptions, revenue decreases and personnel cuts have all occurred to enterprises amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, commercial banks have so far revised down many times their deposit and lending rates. However, lending rates are thought to be high. Why are these rates difficult to be further slashed?

If large businesses cannot pay their debts, they may put pressure on banks to lower requirements for loans.

The number of borrowers is expected to increase, but this also poses higher risks for finance companies.

Small enterprises complain they cannot access the preferential lending program, while banks say hundreds of trillions of dong are ready for disbursement.

The policies on supporting businesses have been designed well, but the support is not enough to help businesses recover losses, economists say.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reported that as of the end of May, credit had grown by 1.96 percent compared with the end of 2019, lower than the 5.74 percent of the same period last year.

Many companies have been sold during the COVID-19 crisis due to lack of capital and longterm financial durability.

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) is ready to disburse VND16 trillion for enterprises that need money to pay to workers. But none of them have accessed the package.

Focusing on the home market is one of the important solutions that will help enterprises restore production and business after Covid-19 ends, experts say.

Private banks that can satisfy the requirements on capital adequacy ratio (CAR) now have great opportunities to obtain bigger market share.

Businesspeople have called on the government to take measures to control foreign capital and prevent foreign investors from acquiring local strong brands and Vietnamese enterprises in important business fields.

Businesses are expecting interest rates to continue to fall, while banks’ credit growth continues to stand still or declines because of low credit demand.

Many commercial banks have had to reduce operation costs and adjust business plans.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu said at a conference between the Prime Minister and ministries’ leaders that state-owned banks will have to sacrifice 30-40 percent of profit to help businesses cope with Covid-19.

Banks have cut wages of high-ranking executives to cope with the effects of Covid-19.