A branch of BIDV in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of BIDV

HCM CITY — The State Bank of Việt Nam’s (SBV) HCM City branch will continue to prioritise credit for production and business, especially in priority sectors, to boost economic recovery.

Nguyễn Đức Lệnh, deputy director of the SBV’s HCM City branch, said the credit flow would be directed to priority sectors while credit quality would also be improved.

Priority fields include agriculture, rural areas, exports, small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting industries, high-tech enterprises, and others.

Credit institutions must also ensure stable liquidity, safe banking operations, and strictly control credit from potentially risky areas, according to Lệnh.

Credit growth in the city has focused on production and business to support economic recovery, accounting for 60-70 per cent of the total outstanding loans, said Lệnh.

Last December, the SBV lifted the credit growth target by 1.5-2 percentage points for 2022 from its earlier target of 14 per cent, allowing lenders to lend an additional VNĐ240 trillion (US$9.7 billion).

Interest rates remain high

Economist Lê Xuân Nghĩa, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said interest rates are still too high, despite the central bank calling on banks to cut lending rates to support enterprises.

Deposit interest rates at banks have surged to as much as 12 per cent per year, pushing lending interest rates up to 15-16 per cent a year, he said.

If the inflation rate is around 4 per cent, the savings interest rates should be around 6-7 per cent per year, he added.

Experts have predicted the deposit interest rate will remain high at least until June and that deposit rates would peak in the first half of 2023 with an increase of 1-1.5 percentage points.

Recently, the Việt Nam Banks Association called on commercial banks to keep deposit interest rates at 9.5 per cent or below to reduce lending interest rates.

Commercial banks started lowering deposit interest rates early this month and cut further last week, raising hope of a drop in lending rates.

SBV Governor Nguyễn Thị Hồng has constantly called on banks to cut operating costs and improve administrative procedures so as to reduce lending interest rates.

Expert Cấn Văn Lực said enterprises should look to other capital mobilisation channels instead of relying too much on bank loans. — VNS