Vietnam credit growth slows to 4.81% as of Sept. 16, central bank says

Although the capital and liquidity of the credit institution system are abundant, the credit demand is still weak due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the central bank which had targeted 2020 credit growth at between 11 and 14%.

The country’s total money supply increased by 7.58 percent from end-2019.

Bad debt of the banking system maintained at less than 2%. Between 2012 and July 2020, the banking system has handled about VND1,113.7 trillion ($48.2 billion) bad debts, said Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong. 

Since early this year, the regulator has cut operating interest rates twice with a total reduction of 1-1.5% per year to support liquidity for credit institutions.

Regarding exchange rate management, from the beginning of 2020, despite the impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and fluctuations in the international market, the foreign currency market of Vietnam and the USD/VND exchange rate remained stable.

The central bank continued to buy foreign currencies to supplement state foreign exchange reserves.

► Vietnam’s foreign reserves hit record high $92 billion

► Vietnam’s Jan.-June credit growth slows to 3.26% on pandemic