VietNamNet Bridge – The troubled property market, together with the struggling financial market, should be restructured rather than rescued in the nation’s economic restructuring process, said National Assembly (NA) deputy Tran Hoang Ngan.

He was speaking at a web dialogue with readers called “A new year for business: risks and opportunities” held by Tuoi Tre newspaper last Thursday.

To further demonstrate his point, Ngan said: “We should not just warm up the market, but have to restructure it as well, from planning, design, construction, distribution to consumption, market research and management.”

The State management agencies have to change their mindset and reform themselves to better manage the market and address the actual needs of the market.

The State must resolutely eliminate weak real estate firms and adopt appropriate policies to meet the real housing demand of citizens, he stressed.

He agreed with the policy to offer cheap loans with interest rates ranging from 6% to 8% per year and terms between 10 and 15 years for those wishing to buy a condo costing below VND1 billion. However, the condo size should not be a criterion for lending because it varies among localities and from project to project.

Buyers should pay attention to prices as they are still high compared to their incomes, he noted.

Even in the tough times, there are always opportunities. The most important thing now is to provide customers with the right products and services, improve product and service quality and offer customers financial solutions, said Luong Tri Thin, general director of Dat Xanh Real Estate Service and Construction Corporation.

Focus on bad debt

The restructuring of the banking sector should be continued to make it healthier, said Truong Van Phuoc, general director of Eximbank.

In this process, bad debt is a focus, so it needs to be treated urgently. Phuoc predicted 2013 would saw some economic recovery.

This year, the Government wants higher economic growth but lower inflation. In other words, the Government wants lending rates to be brought down to allow enterprises and individuals to borrow.

He forecast deposit rates this year would range from 7% to 9% per annum and lending rates from 10-13%.

Regarding the merger between Eximbank and Sacombank, he said: “When signing the agreement between the two banks, I thought this is normal and inevitable.”

Giving advice on investment, he said that as the economy remains volatile, investment channels like gold, securities and real estate cannot avoid fluctuations. One must avoid making a wrong decision, he said.

“Mistakes in administration will lead banks to pay a expensive price,” he said.

Government resolutions to the rescue

In 2013, Vietnam’s economy will continue to face multiple challenges at home and abroad, said Ngan.

The global economy has not recovered. At home, inflation might surge again under the impact of the world’s inflation, while food and fuel price surges would likely occur due to unfavorable weather and unrest in Africa and the Middle East respectively, he explained.

He said the Government had issued two vital resolutions: Resolution 01/NQ-CP on the key measures for socio-economic development and State budget in 2013 and Resolution 02/NQ-CP aimed at saving businesses, spurring the market and settling bad debt.

The solutions catalogued in those two resolutions should be carried out aggressively and synchronously with a strong determination and consensus to help enterprises and the market ride out tough times.

Source: SGT