Interest-subsidized loan policy must not be discounted halfway

In March this year, Luonan County in Shaanxi Province introduced targeted poverty alleviation fiscal interest-subsidized loans, with the county finance covering full interest subsidies for two years. But by July, the policy was adjusted, and the fiscal authorities would only bear half of the interest subsidy funds. In response, local authorities explained it was because "a few poor households did not use the interest-subsidized loan funds for industrial development, and some even deposited the interest subsidy funds in the bank to earn interest."

Issuing interest-subsidized loans to poor farming households is an important measure benefiting farmers, and for farmers, especially poor households, the significance of the assistance is notable. But in the implementation process, it is indeed true that a few loan recipients used the loans for other purposes. The problem is that when the policy was first formulated, effective preventive mechanisms and regulatory measures should have been used to strictly guard against this. How can one wait until the problem arises and then respond hastily, adjusting at a moment's notice? Moreover, after all, only "a few" households had problems. How can one give up eating for fear of choking and discount the interests of the majority!

A policy "changing face" halfway damages not only farmers' actual interests, but also the government's credibility. Such frequent changes not only violate the original intent of the policy, but also cause farmers to lose stable development expectations, and should be handled with caution.