Decree No. 156/2025/NĐ-CP amends and supplements certain Articles of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government on credit policies to serve agricultural and rural development, which has been amended and supplemented by certain Articles according to Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government.

DECREE DECREE

Provincial People's Committees set specific pricesTo amend and supplement some articles of N |||Decree number 55/2015/NĐ-CP July 1909 the 6 2015 of CGovernment on credit policies to serve rural development has been amended and supplemented by some articles according toDecree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government

Pursuant to the Law Tapproved by the Government on 18 the 02 Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government on assigning tasks, procurement or tendering for the supply of products and services using state budget from regular operating expenses;25;

Pursuant to the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam dated June 16, 2010;

On the basis of the Law on Credit Institutions No. 61/2020/QH14 dated 18 the 01 December 2024;

Pursuant to the proposal of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam; The Government promulgates this Decree to amend and supplement some articles of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government on credit policies to serve rural development which has been amended and supplemented by some articles according to Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government.

Article 1. Amend and supplement some articles of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government on credit policies to serve rural development which has been amended and supplemented by some articles according to Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government.

1. Supplement Clause 4 into Article 2 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP which has been amended and supplemented at Clause 1 of Article 1 of Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP as follows:

"4. Relevant state management agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in the implementation of this Decree."

2. Amend Clause 1 of Article 3 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Rural area refers to the administrative unit of commune, special economic zone (excluding special economic zones where local authorities perform tasks and powers corresponding to those of local authorities in wards)."

3. Supplement Clauses 14, 15, and 16 into Article 3 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"14. The balance of debt loss of a property is the principal balance of all loans from a credit institution made by a customer to form that property at the time of loss, determined in accordance with the degree of loss (loss ratio) of that property.

15. The balance of debt loss of a customer is the total balance of debt loss of properties as stipulated in Clause 14 of this Article.

16. A document announcing the status of widespread natural disasters or epidemics is an administrative document issued by the People's Committee of a province to implement the policy of suspending debt repayment as prescribed in this Decree, including the following main information: type of natural disaster or epidemic; the wide-ranging impact of the natural disaster or epidemic within the locality; start and end date (or ongoing) of the natural disaster or epidemic; instructions for relevant organizations and individuals to prepare and complete suspension of debt repayment documents as prescribed."

4. Supplement Clause 5 into Article 7 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"5. Other legitimate sources of funds of credit institutions."

5. Supplement Clause 1a into Article 8 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1a. In cases where customers simultaneously meet the provisions regarding unsecured loan limits set out in Articles 9, 14, 15, and 15a of this Decree, the credit institution and the customer may agree on an unsecured loan limit according to one of the loan limits specified in these Articles in compliance with the law."

6. Amend Clause 2 of Article 9 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP which has been amended at Clause 3 of Article 1 of Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP as follows:

"2. Individuals, households, cooperatives, business households, farm owners, cooperatives, and cooperative unions shall be considered for unsecured loans up to the following limits:

a) Up to VND 300 million for individuals and households;

b) Up to VND 500 million for cooperatives and business households;

c) Up to VND 3 billion for farm owners;

d) Up to VND 5 billion for cooperatives and cooperative unions."

7. Amend Clause 3 of Article 9 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"3. Customers who are eligible for unsecured loans under Clause 2 of this Article and credit institutions may agree that the customer will submit to the credit institution a certificate of land use rights and ownership of immovable property attached to the land during the period of unsecured borrowing from the credit institution."

8. Amend the name of Article 12 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP which has been amended at Clause 6 of Article 1 of Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 12. Maintaining the loan classification, suspending debt repayment, and granting new loans"

9. Amend Clause 1 of Article 12 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Credit institutions may maintain the loan classification for debts with principal and interest balances that have been restructured in terms of repayment deadlines according to the regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam on credit institutions restructuring repayment deadlines for customers facing difficulties due to objective and force majeure reasons as stipulated in this Decree; while considering the feasibility of projects, production and business plans, and the ability to repay debts of customers to grant new loans to help customers overcome difficulties, stabilize production, and fulfill obligations to repay old and new debts to credit institutions."

10. Amend point (iv) of point a of Clause 3 of Article 12 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP which has been amended and supplemented by Clause 6 of Article 1 of Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP as follows:

"(iv) A record confirming the customer's loss of capital and assets formed from capital, clearly stating the time of loss, the extent of loss caused by widespread natural disasters or epidemics or objective and force majeure reasons, confirmed by the credit institution, the customer, and the competent authority (confirmed by the People's Committee of a province for enterprises and cooperative unions; confirmed by the People's Committee of a commune for business households, cooperatives, farm owners, individuals, and households, cooperatives)."

11. Amend Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 13 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

11. Amend Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 13 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"2. The debt remains in the same risk category as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 12 of this Decree and is within the restructuring period; credit institutions shall not adjust or reclassify it into a higher risk category according to the classification of assets in their operations as stipulated by the State Bank of Vietnam. In cases where the debt exceeds the restructuring period without being further restructured or no longer has the remaining principal balance subject to restructuring as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 12 of this Decree, credit institutions shall classify the debt according to the State Bank of Vietnam's regulations on asset classification in their operations.

3. Based on the Government’s provisions regarding the level of provisioning, the method for establishing risk reserves, and the use of reserves to address risks in the operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches, and the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, credit institutions shall establish reserve amounts corresponding to the total outstanding balance of customers based on the debt classification results according to the State Bank of Vietnam's regulations on asset classification in their operations without applying the unchanged risk category under Clause 1 of Article 12 of this Decree."

12. Supplement Article 15a to Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 15a. Credit policy encouraging organic agriculture and circular economy

1. Customers with projects or plans for producing and trading organic agricultural products in accordance with laws on organic agriculture or projects or plans for producing and trading agricultural products that meet the criteria for a circular economy as prescribed by laws on the circular economy shall be considered for unsecured loans up to 70% of the value of the project or plan by credit institutions.

2. In cases where customers under Clause 1 of this Article encounter risks due to objective and force majeure factors, the loan debt will be handled as if it were a case involving the lead organization implementing value chain linkages as prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 14 of this Decree."

13. Supplement Clause 7 to Article 18 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"7. Guidelines for determining projects or plans for producing and trading organic agricultural products and projects or plans for producing and trading agricultural products that meet the criteria for a circular economy as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 15a of this Decree."

14. Amend the name of Article 21 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 21. Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Justice"

15. Amend Clause 2 of Article 25 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP as follows:

"2. In cases where there are multiple support policies from the state budget for customers who have suffered losses due to objective and force majeure factors, customers may choose to benefit from one of these state support policies."

Article 2. Replacing and abolishing certain phrases, articles, and clauses of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government on credit policies serving the development of agriculture and rural areas, which has been amended and supplemented by Decree No. 116/2018/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government

1. Replace the following phrases:

a) Replace the phrase "Articles 9, 14 and 15" in Clause 2 of Article 5 with the phrase "Articles 9, 14, 15 and 15a".

b) Replace the phrase "write off interest-free debt for damaged principal" in Clause 2 of Article 12 with the phrase "write off interest-free debt for the customer's damaged principal from the time of damage occurrence".

c) Replace the phrase "State Bank branch at provincial and centrally-administered city levels" in Clause 3 of Article 12 and Form No. 01 with the phrase "State Bank branch in Areas".

d) Replace the phrase "Clause 3 of Article 14 and Clause 3 of Article 15" in Clauses 2 and 4 of Article 12 with the phrase "Clause 3 of Article 14, Clause 3 of Article 15 and Clause 2 of Article 15a".

đ) Replace the phrase "Clause 2 of Article 9, Articles 14 and 15" in Clause 1 of Article 13 with the phrase "Clause 2 of Article 9, Articles 14, 15 and 15a".

e) Replace the phrase "restructure repayment terms and maintain the same risk category" in Point a of Clause 3 of Article 14 with the phrase "maintain the same risk category as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 12 of this Decree".

g) Replace the phrase "Articles 12, 14 and 15" in Clause 4 of Article 17, Clause 3 of Article 19, and Clause 3 of Article 22 with the phrase "Articles 12, 14, 15 and 15a".

h) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development" in Article 18 and Clause 1 of Article 21 with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment".

i) Remove the phrase ", Ministry of Planning and Investment" in Clause 2 of Article 12 and Clause 4 of Article 19.

k) Replace the phrase "Districts, Counties, Towns" in Form No. 01 with the phrase "Communes, Special Zones".

2. Abolish Clause 3 of Article 8, Article 20, Clause 3 of Article 21, and Clause 2 of Article 22 of Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP.

Article 3. Transitional Provisions

Credit institutions and customers shall continue to implement the contents of contracts and agreements signed in accordance with the law at the time of signing or amend and supplement contracts and agreements in compliance with this Decree.

Article 4. Effective date

This Decree takes effect from July 1, 2025.