World Bank willing to offer ODA, IDA loans for Vietnam: official

The World Bank is willing to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) and International Development Association (IDA) loans to Vietnam, a senior bank official said here Friday.

The loans will help Vietnam in raising funding budget for the asset management company VAMC, a unit designed to deal with bad debts, while supporting the country's agricultural sector, said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director in Vietnam at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Kwakwa proposed Vietnam better manage budget expenditure and promote restructure plan. She affirmed her priority in coordinating with Vietnamese ministries and sectors to prepare for the signing and implementation of credit agreements for the country during the 17th IDA replenishment round, including the 1.5 billion U.S. dollars pact which was already signed and a 2-billion- U.S. dollar agreement to be signed for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

The Vietnamese prime minister said the government will restructure public debt, reduce budget overspending, cut down regular expenditure, meet the date of payments and effectively use loans.

New World Bank loans will be spent on necessary socio-economic infrastructure facilities while the government will try to minimize wastefulness and corruption, the prime minister said.

The government is set to bring bad debts ratio to 3 percent in September, he added. Endi