Official Dispatch 3339/NHNN-TTGSNH 2020 guidelines for implementation of 01/2020/TT-NHNN

• Số hiệu: 3339/NHNN-TTGSNH
• Loại văn bản: Công văn
• Nơi ban hành: Ngân hàng Nhà nước
• Người ký: Nguyễn Trọng Du
• Ngày ban hành: 08/05/2020

THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM -------	THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness ---------------------
No.: 3339/NHNN-TTGSNH Re: Guidelines for implementation of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN	Hanoi, May 08, 2020

To:

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On March 13, 2020, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has promulgated the Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN prescribing debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interest and fees, retention of debt category to assist borrowers affected by Covid-19 pandemic (Circular 01). Circular 01 comes into force from March 13, 2020.

In order to ensure consistent implementation of Circular 01 by all credit institutions and foreign bank branches, SBV provides specific guidelines for implementation of Circular 01 which are published on SBV’s website./.

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BY ORDER OF GOVERNOR
PP. HEAD OF BANKING SUPERVISION AGENCY
DEPUTY HEAD




Nguyen Trong Du

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GUIDELINES

FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF CIRCULAR NO. 01/2020/TT-NHNN DATED MARCH 13, 2020 PRESCRIBING DEBT RESCHEDULING, EXEMPTION OR REDUCTION OF INTEREST AND FEES, RETENTION OF DEBT CATEGORY TO ASSIST BORROWERS AFFECTED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC (CIRCULAR 01)
(Enclosed with the Official Dispatch No. 3339/NHNN-TTGSNH dated May 08, 2020 of the State Bank of Vietnam)

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Question 1

SBV is requested to expand the scope of application, including investments in corporate bonds, credit extension by issuance of credit cards, discounting and factoring, etc.

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- Presently, definition and principles of debt rescheduling are provided for in the Circular No. 39/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of the State Bank of Vietnam prescribing lending transactions of credit institutions and foreign bank branches with customers (Circular 39) and the Circular No. 30/2015/TT-NHNN dated December 25, 2015 on licensing, organization and operation of non-banking credit institutions (as amended) (Circular 30).  Legislative documents prescribing forms of credit extension include Circular 04 (prescribing discounting), Circular 07 (prescribing bank guarantee), Circular No. 02/2017/TT-NHNN (prescribing factoring), the Government’s Decree No. 163/2018/ND-CP dated December 04, 2018 prescribing issuance of corporate bonds, Circular No. 22/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016 of State Bank of Vietnam prescribing purchase of corporate bonds by credit institutions and foreign bank branches (as amended) but provide no provisions on debt rescheduling.

With regard to discounting and factoring, terms of discounting and factoring depend on not only borrowers’ solvency but also remaining terms of financial instruments, receivables and payables specified in goods sale and service provision contracts, and recourse periods.

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With regard to purchase and investment in corporate bonds, the change of the term for paying bond principal and/or interest is not subject to decision of the credit institution or foreign bank branch but the decision of the bond issuer (the credit institution or foreign bank branch only owns that bond). The change of term for paying bond principal and/or interest depends on terms and conditions of each type of bonds and requires the approval given by bond owners (in addition to credit institutions, bond owners also include securities companies, investment funds, insurance companies, other foreign institutional and individual investors) according to the procedures laid down in the Government's Decree No. 163/2018/ND-CP on issuance of corporate bonds and relevant legislative documents. Thus, grant of permission to credit institutions and foreign bank branches to reschedule debts relating to corporate bonds is not reasonable.

- Based on statistical data given by SBV, as of April 14, 2020, total outstanding balances of loans, investments in corporate bonds and other credit extension forms account for 96.94%, 2.47% and 0.59% respectively. Thus, the fact Circular 01 only provides regulations on debt rescheduling, retention of debt category with respect to debts incurred from loans and finance lease transactions is reasonable and meets demands of borrowers of credit institutions and foreign bank branches who are affected by Covid-19.

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Question 2

Whether or not overdrafts are treated according to the provisions of Circular 01?

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Pursuant to the provisions in the Circular No. 39/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016, Circular No. 19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016, of the State Bank of Vietnam on bank cards, overdraft facility granted on debit cards and checking accounts is considered a form of lending, thus credit institutions and foreign bank branches are allowed to carry out debt rescheduling, exemption and reduction of interests and fees, and retention of debt category with respect to outstanding debts of the said lending form when meeting the relevant requirements set out in Circular 01.

Question 3

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Answer

Clause 1 Article 6 of Circular No. 01 stipulates:  “Credit institutions and foreign bank branches may retain the categories of the following debts if they have been categorized in accordance with regulations of the State bank of Vietnam before January 23, 2020:…”

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With respect to loans and financial leases arising after January 23, 2020 (after Covid-19 Pandemic has been announced by the Government), credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall determine terms of loans and financial leases based on the Covid-19 situation and characteristics of borrowers. Rescheduling and retention of categories of these debts as prescribed in Circular 01 are not reasonable.

2. Times of debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interests, and retention of debt category

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Whether or not times of debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interests, and retention of debt category are limited under Circular 01?

Answer

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3. Creation of provisions and re-classification of debts according to the List of borrowers provided by CIC and creation of provisions for debts that are rescheduled, have interest reduced or exempted and have category unchanged as prescribed in Circular 01

Question 5

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Answer

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 93/2017/ND-CP dated August 07, 2017 introducing financial mechanism of credit institutions and foreign bank branches, costs shall be determined and recorded in accordance with Vietnam’s accounting standards and relevant laws.

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Question 6

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 7 of Circular 01, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall establish and specify criteria for determining outstanding debts of borrowers affected by Covid-19 in their internal regulations. During the application of this provision, a customer may be treated by credit institutions in different manners. E.g. A customer’s debt may be rescheduled and kept at the current debt group at credit institution A but credit institution B. Hence, whether or not this customer is subject to the mechanism for re-classification of debts according to CIC’s List of borrower?

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Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 6 of Circular 01, if the extended repayment period of a debt which has been rescheduled or has interest exempted or reduced or has its category retained according to Circular 01 is not yet expired and the borrower is assessed by the credit institution or foreign bank branch to be capable of fully repaying debt by the rescheduled deadline, the credit institution or foreign bank branch must not re-classify this debt into a group of debts with a higher risk level (i.e. the credit institution or foreign bank branch must neither re-classify the debt according to CIC’s list of borrowers nor re-classify the debt into a group of debts with a higher risk level according to the outstanding debts and other off-balance sheet commitments of customers that are not regulated entities of Circular 01).

Question 7

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Answer

Credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall consider the debt groups prescribed in Circular 01 for determining and setting aside the corresponding provisions in accordance with law regulations on debt classification, creation and use of provisions for credit losses incurred during operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches.

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Question 8

SBV is requested to allow credit institutions to record the interests on the debts which have been rescheduled and kept in group 1 as revenue.

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Clause 3 Article 6 of Circular No. 01 stipulates:  “From the rescheduling date, credit institutions and foreign bank branches are not required to record the interests on the outstanding debts that are rescheduled, debts on which interest is reduced or exempted, and debts that remain current non-performing loans (Group 1) as prescribed in this Circular as revenue. Instead, they shall be monitored off-balance sheet and recorded as revenue when they are collected in accordance with regulations of law on financial mechanism applied to credit institutions and foreign bank branches.”

This provision on recording of estimated interests on the debts which have been rescheduled and retained in group 1 inherits from the provisions on recording of interest receivables on the debts that remain current non-performing loans according to the State policies provided in the Circular No. 16/2018/TT-BTC dated February 07, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidelines for financial regulations applied to credit institutions and foreign bank branches, is conformable with the Government’s Decree No. 93/2017/ND-CP introducing financial mechanism for credit institutions and foreign bank branches, and accounting standards for recording of revenues from interests, and also reflects the financial status, public and transparent operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches. According to this provision, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall not record the interests on the debts which have been rescheduled and remained current non-performing loans as prescribed in Circular 01 as revenue if they are not actually collected; when they are collected, they shall be recorded as revenue according to the applicable financial mechanism.

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Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 6 of Circular 01, credit institutions believe that the entire interests on the debts which are rescheduled and the debts on which the interest is exempted or reduced must be monitored off-balance sheet; pursuant to Clause 3 Article 6 of Circular 01, cases of interest exemption must be also monitored off-balance sheet. Thus, SBV is requested to provide specific guidelines on this content.

Answer

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The interests incurred before the rescheduling date on the debts which are retained in group 1 as prescribed in Circular 01 and the interests on the debts which are classified according to other regulations on debt classification, creation and use of provisions for credit losses during operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall be recorded by credit institutions and foreign bank branches in accordance with the Circular No. 16/2018/TT-BTC dated February 07, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance and its amending and superseding documents (if any).

The interests on the debts on which the interest is entirely exempted and the debts which are retained in group 1 shall be monitored off-balance sheet in accordance with Clause 3 Article 6 of Circular 01.

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Question 10

SBV is requested to consider promulgating simplified procedures for debt rescheduling.

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Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 4 of Circular 01, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall decide the rescheduling of debts in consideration of the borrowers’ request and ability to fully repay the principal and/or interest after the debt is rescheduled. The debt rescheduling decision must be suitable for the impacts of Covid-19 and used as the basis for determining the new repayment deadlines for borrowers who have debts rescheduled. Credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall specify procedures for debt rescheduling in their internal regulations which must meet the relevant rules and requirements set out in Circular 01.

Credit institutions and foreign bank branches are requested to promulgate their internal procedures/regulations on debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interest and fees in accordance with Circular 01, and organize the consistent implementation of such procedures/regulations throughout their systems; review and simplify their procedures/regulations in order to reduce periods of processing of borrowers’ applications for debt rescheduling. Information on cases where borrowers are not eligible for the assistance program must be provided in a timely, adequate and transparent manner so as to reduce complaints from borrowers.

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SBV is requested to provide guidelines on retention of debt category in the following cases: The debts are classified in group 1 before January 23, 2020. The debts are classified in group 2 on March 20, 2020 due to overdue interests. The borrowers incur no overdue debts because the entire interests incurred from January 23, 2020 to the end of May, 2020 are exempted; In such cases, the re-classification of debts into group 1 is made automatically or requires an approval for retention of debt category.

Answer

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6. Determination of groups of debts to be retained

Question 12

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Answer

Clause 1 Article 6 of Circular 01 stipulates that credit institutions and foreign bank branches may retain the categories of the debts which have been classified in accordance with SBV’s regulations before January 23, 2020.

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7. Re-classification of debts which have been rescheduled and retained their categories as prescribed in Circular 01 into debt groups with lower risk levels

Question 13

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Answer

Article 3 of Circular 01 stipulates:  “Debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interest and fees, retention of debt category to assist borrowers affected by Covid-19 pandemic shall comply with the regulations of this Circular; other contents on debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interest and fees, and debt classification that are not provided for in this Circular shall comply with relevant legislative documents.”.

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8. Principles for classification of the debts retained in current debt groups as prescribed in Circular 01 but borrowers are unable to repay debts by rescheduled deadlines

Question 14

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Answer

Pursuant to Article 3 of Circular 01, credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall take the debt rescheduling method (installation revision or extension of repayment period), times of debt rescheduling (including the debt rescheduling made according to Circular 01), and total days past due into consideration and classify the outstanding debts, which have been rescheduled and retained in their current debt groups as prescribed in Circular 01 but borrowers are unable to repay the debts by the rescheduled deadlines, into the corresponding debt groups in accordance with law regulations on debt classification, creation and use of provisions for credit losses incurred during operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches.

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Question 15

Circular 01 stipulates the rescheduling of the debts of which the principal and/or interest arises during the period from January 23, 2020 to the day following the end of 03 months after the Prime Minister officially declares an end of Covid-19 pandemic. However, due to the unforeseen development of Covid-19 pandemic, credit institutions cannot determine when Covid-19 pandemic ends to determine the debts to be rescheduled. Whether the case in which the repayment period under the indebtedness contract covering the debt rescheduled and having debt group retained according to Circular 01 exceeds the period T+3 after the Covid-19 pandemic ends is considered to violate relevant regulations or not?

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The period from January 23, 2020 to the day following the end of 03 months after the Prime Minister officially declares an end of Covid-19 pandemic prescribed in Point b Clause 1 Article 4 of Circular 01 is used for determining the scope of debts to be rescheduled and those with retained debt groups. The repayment of debt may be extended for a period not exceeding 12 months from the initial repayment deadline according to the signed agreement/contract. The provision in Circular 01 does not mean that the debt which has been rescheduled must be repaid by the day following the end of 03 months after the Prime Minister officially declares an end of Covid-19 pandemic.

Question 16

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- Pursuant to Point a Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01, whether or not a credit institution is required to reschedule the debt which is undue or less than 10 days past due within 10 days past due?

- Pursuant to Point b Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01, whether or not a credit institution is required to reschedule debts within the period from the effective date of the Circular to the 16^th day from the effective date of the Circular?

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- Pursuant to Point a Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01, credit institutions shall reschedule and retain the category of the debt which is undue or less than 10 days past due.

- The provision in Point b Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01 is used for determining the scope of debts to be rescheduled according to Circular 01 (including the debt becomes overdue during the period from January 23, 2020 to the 16^th day from the effective date of Circular 01); Time limits and procedures for rescheduling of the debt defined in Point b Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01 are decided by credit institutions and foreign bank branches and specified in their internal regulations. They should meet relevant principles and requirements laid down in Circular 01 and may assist borrowers in a timely manner.

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SBV is requested to allow the application of Circular 01 to borrowers instead of their outstanding debts as prescribed in Circular 01.

Answer:

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Question 18

Whether or not the provisions in Circular 01 apply to all of short-term, medium-term and long-term debts?

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Circular 01 does not stipulate the lending forms. Credit institutions shall reschedule, exempt or reduce interests on, and retain the category of any outstanding debts that meet the requirements set out in Circular 01 regardless of whether they are short-term, medium-term or long-term debts.

Question 19

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Answer

The provision in Point b Clause 3 Article 4 of Circular 01 aims to facilitate credit institutions and foreign bank branches in debt rescheduling and is appropriate to all lending forms. During the period T+12 months prescribed in Point b Clause 3 Article 4 of Circular 01, T is the final date on which the borrower is required to fully repay the principal and/or interest to the credit institution under the signed credit agreement/contract. It is not the due date of each repayment period indicated in the credit agreement/contract.

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With regard to a loan disbursed according to the credit line, if the credit institution has rescheduled and retained the category of the debt according to Circular 01, whether or not a new disbursement is granted at the request of the borrower because it is still within the approved credit line? And whether or not the new disbursement must be reported to SBV and the recording of estimated revenue relating to such disbursement must be suspended as the debt which has been rescheduled and has its category retained as prescribed in Circular 01?

Answer

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- Credit institution shall submit reports according to statistical regulations adopted by SBV.

- Based on the provisions in Circular 01 and answers to Question 3 and Question 8 herein, the credit institution shall determine the debt group and record estimated interests on debts arising from new disbursements within the credit line.

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SBV is requested to provide guidelines on determination of revenue and income decreased due to impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic in the following 02 cases:

- The credit institution grants a loan to the borrower for executing a project but the project is not put into operation due to the impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic, and thus the borrower earns no revenue.

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Answer

- Point c Clause 1 Article 4 of Circular No. 01 stipulates:  An outstanding debt, including the principal and/or interest (including the debts regulated by the Government's Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP , as amended) may be rescheduled if it fully satisfies the following conditions: ...; c) The borrower is unable to repay the principal and/or interest under the loan/finance lease agreement due to decrease in revenue caused by Covid-19 Pandemic.

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- Pursuant to Point c Clause 1 Article 4 of Circular 01, the debt owed by the borrower whose revenue is not decreased due to Covid-19 Pandemic shall not be rescheduled according to Circular 01.

Question 22

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Answer

- Article 11 of Circular 39 stipulates:  “1. Credit institutions and their customers shall agree on a loan denominated either in Vietnamese dong or in another foreign currency unit as appropriate to provisions laid down herein and relevant legislation. 2. Currency unit used for debt repayment is the one used in a loan.”

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Thus, credit institutions and foreign bank branches are allowed to grant loans/finance leases in both VND and foreign currency in conformity with relevant laws. Credit institutions and foreign bank branches may also consider and decide debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interests, and retention of debt category with regard to loans and finance leases in foreign currency if they meet the conditions in Circular 01.

Question 23

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Answer

Credit institutions and foreign bank branches may consider and decide the rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interests/fees on and retention of category of the outstanding debts which have been classified in accordance with SBV’s regulations before January 23, 2020 if they meet the conditions, requirements and principles in Circular 01 regardless of their groups before the debt rescheduling, exemption or reduction of interests, and retention of debt category.

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Whether or not Circular 01 applies to individual or household borrowers?

Answer

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According to the answer to question 3 of the Table of answers to questions concerning the Circular No. 39 enclosed with the Official Dispatch No. 1576/NHNN-CSTT dated March 14, 2017, SBV gives opinions about the definition of the term “borrower” in Circular 39 as follows:  Clause 3 Article 2 of the Circular No. 39 stipulates that the “borrower” performing a borrowing transaction with a credit institution refers to any legal entity or individual; this regulation is conformable with regulations on entities participating in civil transactions in the Civil Code in 2015. Credit institutions shall consider lending money to entities other than legal entities as lending money to individuals (one or several individuals) in conformity with regulations in the Circular No. 39 and the Civil Code in 2015.

- Clause 14 Article 3 of Circular No. 30 stipulates:  Lessee refers to a legal entity or individual that operates in Vietnam and directly uses the leased asset to serve their operations. When a household, artel or organization without a legal status wishes to enter into a finance lease contract, such finance lease contract must be concluded by its member or authorized representative.

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Question 25

SBV is requested to provide guidelines on the following contents:  Whether or not Circular 01 applies to PPP projects which have been finished and put into operation but have decrease in revenue due to the impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic, and other commercial property loans?

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Circular 01 does not stipulate the loan purposes. Thus, credit institutions and foreign bank branches may and decide to reschedule, exempt or reduce interests, and retain the categories of the outstanding debts if they meet the conditions in Circular 01, regardless of the loan purposes (either investment in PPP projects or purchase of commercial houses).

Question 26

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- The debt should be extended for a longer period (more than 03 months) after the Prime Minister declares an end of the Covid-19 Pandemic or SBV should stipulate a specific extension period (e.g. from January 23, 2020 to January 23, 2021 or to October 31, 2021) for application of the provision in Point b Clause 1 Article 4 of Circular 01.

- The period in Point a Clause 2 Article 4 of Circular 01 should be extended for more than 10 days.

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Answer

In the short term, credit institutions and foreign bank branches are requested to carry out debt rescheduling, exemption and reduction of interests and retention of debt category in accordance with the provisions in Circular 01.

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