Loans totaling VND42.6 billion ($2.02 million) were given to 3,505 poor households in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province in the first six months of this year. The southern province's Social Policy Bank in the same period offered loans totaling VND12 billion to 2,239 college and university students to help them pay tuition and rent. The provincial administration also granted free health insurance cards worth VND52 billion to more than 98,000 residents living below the poverty line. (Vietnam News July 25)