VN credit growth reaches 3.14% as of March 23
LENDING IN Vietnam from January to March 23 rose by 3.14 per cent against the end of last year, according to a new report from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
Loan growth in the period was higher than the 1.79-per-cent growth rate posted in the same period of 2016, the report said. It noted that the rise in the first months of the year would help credit growth be spread more evenly across each quarter instead of only making an impact in the final quarter, as in previous years.
In the period, loans were mainly poured into production and business, accounting for up to 80 per cent of total outstanding loans.
Capital mobilisation in the period meanwhile rose 3.07 per cent, the central bank reported.
The SBV affirmed that the monetary market during the period remained stable and dong liquidity at commercial banks was good, meeting payment demands of individuals and organisations.
In the first quarter, the central bank said, it took flexible and comprehensive measures to adjust and stabilise monetary and foreign-exchange markets, meeting the government’s targets of stabilising the macro economy, supporting economic growth at a reasonable level and controlling inflation.
The SBV claims that it will continue to enhance lending quality and apply tight controls over lending in potentially risky areas, such as lending to large clients, real estate, and build-operate-transfer and build-transfer projects in the transport sector.
Many commercial banks have so far also prioritised the quality of lending instead of only focusing on credit growth, as previously reported.
Nghiem Xuan Thanh, chairman of Vietcombank, the first bank to recover all bad debts sold to Vietnam Asset Management Company and currently holding a bad-debt ratio of less than 1.5 per cent, said his bank planned to promote lending to the government’s five priority areas this year.
Outstanding loans to these areas amounted to 170 trillion dong (Bt260 billion), accounting for 35 per cent of the bank’s total outstanding loans. The priority areas included agriculture and rural development, production for export, small and medium-sized enterprises, support industry and high-tech applications.
