According to updated information from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), by the end of October 2019, the credit balance to the economy increased by 9.97 percent compared to the end of 2018. By the end of October 2019, the outstanding loans of business customers reached 4.2 quadrillion dong, accounting for 53.44 percent of the total outstanding loans of the whole economy, an increase of 7.19 percent compared to the beginning of the year. In particular, loan outstanding loans to private enterprises were 3.45 quadrillion dong, accounting for 43.76 percent of the total outstanding loans of the economy and accounted for 81.88 percent of total outstanding loans of enterprises, an increase of 8.99 percent compared to the beginning of the year.
At the same time, outstanding loans to small and medium enterprises (SME) reached 1.49 quadrillion dong, accounting for 18.84 percent of the total outstanding loans of the economy and 35.28 percent of the total outstanding loans of enterprises, up 13, 8 percent compared to the beginning of the year with 198,268 enterprises having outstanding loans. By economic structure, outstanding loans for SME operating in industry and construction accounted for about 41%; trade and service 54%; agriculture, forestry and fishery 5 percent of total outstanding loans.
SBV said that credit was focused on production and business and five priority areas according to the government’s policy while credit for potentially risky areas is controlled at a reasonable level. Banking credit is still the main financing channel for SME serving production and business activities in the condition that they are less likely to raise capital through the stock market, while capital sources from the state budget and international support are limited.
“The credit growth rate for SME has grown over the years and is now higher than the average credit growth rate,” SBV said.
Regarding the medium and long-term capital sources, SBV emphasized that the medium and long-term capital sources of the economy currently mainly rely on the banking system with a relatively large proportion, about 49.8 percent of the total outstanding loans.
“The above situation has been creating great pressure and risks for the credit institution system, causing an imbalance between the banking capital supply channel and the capital market,” said SBV.
The regulator continued that in the near future, it would operate an active and flexible monetary policy to stabilise macro-economy, control inflation, manage interest rates and exchange rates in line with market signals and goals. manage monetary policy, thereby creating a foundation to support the development of the stock market.
Along with that, managing credit growth is associated with credit quality, consistent with the ability to absorb capital of the economy, creating favourable conditions for businesses to increase access to credit.
SBV also said it would closely coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to accelerate the restructuring and rapid and sustainable development of financial market segments, creating favourable conditions for businesses to raise capital in the stock market.
