A soft loan is essentially a loan with an interest rate that is less than the market interest rate. This is called soft financing. In some cases, soft loans offer borrowers concessions, like low monthly payments or interest holiday. Soft loans are often offered by governmental bodies to projects they feel are worthy.
It is true that many developing countries lack the infrastructure of advanced economies. This means that in the absence of proper credit facilities, developing countries can struggle to generate revenue. In addition, governments at both the national and the regional level have budgetary constraints. These factors do not help smooth out the repayment terms for soft loans. However, it is worth remembering that developing countries make up a large majority of the recipients of soft loans.
If you look around, you will see that there are few banks in developed countries that are prepared to offer credit to developing countries. One reason why there are few financial institutions offering such loans is that the credit risk is too great. A hard loan has a much lower interest rate and thus provides a higher return. It is therefore much easier for financial institutions to pass on the costs associated with providing a hard loan to buyers.
There are various reasons why the Chinese government allowed the above-market interest rate and introduced flexible repayment terms in soft loans. The first is the need to ensure that the financing made by the Chinese government does not default on its obligations. China as a country has a huge amount of cash. In fact, China as a government policy has an interest in maintaining a steady inflow of capital. This is why the Chinese government allowed a soft personal loan facility that allowed flexibility in repayments. The flexibility in repayment terms implies that the buyer of the loan is not locked into any one particular business cycle.
The other reason why banks never offer hard loans to buyers from developing countries is because they think that these people are irresponsible. They do not trust the credit history of these people and so the bank does not provide them with a soft loan facility. In addition, many developing countries have high inflation. If you take a look at the cost of goods in developed countries, you will notice that there is hardly any difference between the market interest rate and the inflow/outflow of funds from the Chinese government.
There are various reasons why the Chinese government started allowing the soft loans with lenient repayment terms. One reason was to create a surplus. By allowing high interests and lenient repayment terms, the government agencies can make sure that they have a surplus of cash on hand, ready to use. This was very important during the period of economic crisis, when most of the banks were closing down.
Now that the economy is improving and there is some chance of improvement in the global economy, they are trying to encourage the banks to start offering the soft loans again. Banks in America are in a fix themselves; they have to cut back on their lending rates or risk going out of business. As a result, they are offering the soft loans at attractive terms to attract customers. They also need the money in order to run their operations.
The good news is that you too can get yourself a soft loan from your local bank. You just need to convince the banks to help you out. Tell them that you want to purchase a property or any other assets with a low-interest-rates loan. Ask for a below-markets-rate loan so that your monthly installment does not exceed the market interest rate. Tell them that you intend to repay the loan in five to eight years and you would like to avail of a reduced repayment period. Make sure that you keep your end of the deal by asking them to waive the payment caps and other fees associated with the loan.