WB provides 60 million USD to modernise Vietnam's financial sector

Hanoi (VNA) - A concessional credit of nearly 60 million USD to modernise
Vietnam 's financial sector was signed by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the
World Bank (WB) in Hanoi on Apr. 21.

The credit comes from the International Development Association (IDA) in the form
of a soft loan provided by the WB for low-income countries and has a duration of
40 years with a 10-year grace period.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Victoria Kwakwa, the WB Country Director in
Vietnam , said: "The ongoing global economic crisis provides Vietnam with an
opportunity to deepen and accelerate its reforms in critical areas such as the
financial sector, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy."

The funds will assist the SBV, the Credit Information Centre (CIC) and the Deposit
Insurance of Vietnam (DIV) to improve their operations up to international
standards.

A major portion of the 60 million USD will be used to build a modern centralised
information and communications technology (ICT) platform to support the SBV's
evolving role as the country's central bank.

In addition to providing financial assistance, the WB will invite a number of
overseas IT experts to Vietnam to give consultancy and technical assistance to
the project.-Enditem