A view of the seminar. — VNS Photos Thu Hà

HÀ NỘI — The banking industry will continue taking measures to support economic growth, while also maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation and ensuring the safety of the credit institution system, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Phạm Thanh Hà said at an event on Friday.

At the seminar themed ‘The role of the banking sector in promoting economic growth’, Hà said that 2026 is the first year of implementing the country’s 2026-30 five-year socio-economic development plan.

It is also a year of special significance for achieving development goals in the new period. The National Assembly has set a target of achieving GDP growth of 10 per cent or more and controlling the average CPI at around 4.5 per cent this year. In this context, the role of the banking sector is extremely important.

Hà said: “As the lifeblood of the economy, the banking sector is responsible for effectively raising and allocating financial resources to meet capital needs for production, business, investment, and consumption. It must channel capital flows into priority sectors and growth drivers.”

At the same time, he said, the sector must contribute to maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring the safety of the credit institution system.

To meet the targets, Hà said that SBV Governor has issued Directive No 01/CT-NHNN, outlining the overarching requirement of proactively, flexibly, promptly, and effectively managing monetary policy; managing credit in accordance with macroeconomic developments and the economy's capital absorption capacity; focusing credit on production and business sectors, priority sectors and growth drivers.

Simultaneously, the direction has emphasised controlling bad debts and ensuring the safe operation of the credit institution system. The projected credit growth for the entire system in 2026 is approximately 15 per cent, subject to adjustments based on the actual situation.

However, Hà noted, the demand for capital in the economy is enormous, but the capacity to absorb capital in some sectors and fields remains limited. Many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, still face difficulties in accessing credit as the credit expansion must be linked to improving credit quality, controlling risks, handling bad debts, and ensuring the safety of the entire banking system.

He believes that the global economy, trade and finance continue to have many uncertainties, adding further pressure to the SBV’s management.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Phạm Thanh Hà speaks at the event.

“In this context, the proactive implementation of solutions to support the economy by the banking sector is of great importance," Hà said.

"After the SBV’s direction last month, commercial banks have cut deposit and lending interest rates, demonstrating the entire banking sector's determination to share the difficulties with businesses and people, contributing to supporting economic growth,”

Nguyễn Phi Lân, director of the SBV’s Department of Forecasting, Statistics - Monetary and Financial Stability, told the seminar that in the remaining months of 2026, the target of 10 per cent economic growth faces several challenges.

Lân said: “There may be many adverse impacts from global uncertainties including Middle East conflict and tariff issues, which could erode traditional growth drivers (investment, exports, consumption) while new growth drivers (science and technology, innovation, digital and green transformation and private sector) cannot immediately create significantly positive impacts.”

International organisations forecast Việt Nam's economic growth in 2026 to be between 5.3-7.6 per cent, lower than the target of 10 per cent, while the BIDV’s Economic Research Institute estimated that the Middle East conflict could reduce Việt Nam's economic growth by 0.6-1.5 percentage points compared to the Government's target of 10 per cent.

“The trade surplus also shows signs of increasing in the context of large infrastructure and transportation projects being simultaneously launched, and the demand for imported machinery and equipment for construction being large,” he said.

Inflationary pressure is clearly increasing due to the adverse impact of the Middle East conflict, Lân said, citing the IMF forecast that Việt Nam's inflation in 2026 could rise to 4.9 per cent, exceeding the 4.5 per cent target set by the National Assembly.

The exchange rate is also under upward pressure while the country’s credit-to-GDP ratio continues to be pegged high, posing potential risks to the monetary and financial system.

Phạm Thị Thanh Tùng, deputy director of the SBV’s Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, said that the SBV will continue to proactively review and amend relevant mechanisms and policies related to banking credit activities in general and sectoral credit in particular to support economic growth.

“We will continue to monitor and evaluate credit activities in economic sectors, as well as the impact of the global and domestic economic situation on the sectors to timely develop appropriate credit management solutions,” Tùng said. — BIZHUB/VNS