'In order to satisfy the demand for funds, the government furnishes credits to households through the Vietnamese Bank of Agriculture (VBA)... [M]ore than 90 per cent of loans are given to men, and households of the upper middle-strata are the dominant borrowers.
Apart from the Vietnamese Bank of Agriculture, there are share banks and credit cooperatives. Their loan facilities, however, are small and the interest charged is much higher than that of the VBA. Again, poor households and women have difficulties in borrowing from these financial organizations.
In some cases, credits from international organizations are quite attractive to Vietnamese because these organizations follow simple and flexible rules... These credits certainly favour women, but they reach neither poor households nor households in the mountains and remote areas.
Since most poor households have no access to official credits, they are forced to borrow from the informal credit system at very high interest rates... Most borrowers in this category are women, although many men also have to borrow on these terms in order to cover expenses for gambling or drinking.'
Tran Thi Que (2014) Gender Issues in Vietnam's Development, in Carolyn Gates, Irene Noerlund, Vu Cao Dam (Eds.) Vietnam in a Changing World Link
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