The decision was made taking into consideration the GDP growth target of 6.8 percent in 2019 and inflation rate below 4 percent, set by the National Assembly and the government.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) targets credit growth at 14 percent in 2019, unchanged from the five-year low rate recorded in 2018, the government portal reported, citing Nguyen Thi Hong, an SBV deputy governor.
The decision was made taking into consideration the GDP growth target of 6.8 percent in 2019 and inflation rate below 4 percent, set by the National Assembly and the government, Hong said at the SBV’s quarterly press conference on April 1.
Hong said the SBV would take a cautious approach on supporting credit growth, which should be in close relation with the inflation rate.
Pham Thanh Ha, head of the SBV’s Monetary Policy Department, informed as of March 25, Vietnam’s credit growth reached 2.28 percent against the end of 2018.
Meanwhile, the lending rates remained stable, averaging 69 percent per year in short term, and 911 percent per year in mid- and long-term. Particularly, some credit institutions have reduced short-term lending rates by 0.5 percentage points per annum for customers with good credit ratings and operating in priority fields.
The SBV’s deputy director general of Credit Department Tran Van Tan informed outstanding loans in the industrial sector increased by 2.57 percent year-on-year and made up 20 percent of the total. Of which, the manufacturing and processing climbed 2.79 percent year-on-year and accounted for 15.35 percent.
Additionally, outstanding loans in the construction sector increased by 1.08 percent and made up 9.63 percent of the total, commercial and services sector up 1.97 percent and 61.21 percent of the credit, agriculture, fishery and forestry up 1.01 percent and 9.17 percent of the total.
Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the SBV’s Payment Department, said payment activities in Vietnam have transformed significantly to meet new requirements of the economy and reflect changes in payment technologies.
In 2018, the number of domestic payment transactions via bank cards reached 230.7 million, up 19.02 percent year-on-year with combined value of VND592 trillion (US$25.45 billion), while the number of financial transactions via internet stood at 255.6 million worth VND16,200 trillion (US$696.58 billion), up 22.6 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively; the number of transactions via mobile phones was 185.1 million worth VND1,859.9 trillion (US$79.95 billion), up 41.4 percent and 169.5 percent, respectively.
The SBV’s deputy Governor Hong said the banking restructuring process has progressed well on track, leading to the bad debt ratio of below 2 percent in the whole banking system.
As of January 31, the total value of bad debt resolved on the basis of Resolution No.42, which provides special pilot treatment of bad debts at credit institutions, was estimated at VND204.4 trillion (US$8.78 trillion), accounting for over 40.1 percent of total bad debts.
