Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has decided to offer households living near the poverty line with preferential loans to help improve their living conditions and ensure social security. Under the decision, near-poor people will be able to access preferential loans channeled through the Social Policy Bank starting on April 16, 2013 to run businesses and improve their household finance. The interest rates are negotiated between the bank and borrowers but cannot exceed 130% of the rates offered to those officially designated poor. By March 2012, up to 2.58 million households were deemed poor and 1.53 million near-poor, accounting for 11.76% and 7% of the national population, respectively, according to a survey by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. (Tien Phong Feb 25 p2, Thanh Nien Feb 24)
