HÀ NỘI —  Lending from January to March 23 rose by 3.14 per cent against the end of last year, according to a new report from the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV).

Growth witnessed in 2017 was higher than the 1.79 per cent growth rate posted in the same period of 2016, the report said, noting that the rise in the first months of the year would help credit growth be spread more evenly across each quarter instead of only making an impact in the last quarter, as in previous years.

In the period, loans were mainly poured into production and business, accounting for up to 80 per cent of total outstanding loans.

Capital mobilisation in the period meanwhile rose 3.07 per cent, the central bank reported.

The central bank affirmed that the monetary market during the period remained stable and đồng liquidity at commercial banks was good, meeting payment demands of individuals and organisations.

In the first quarter, the central bank took flexible and comprehensive measures to adjust and stabilise monetary and foreign exchange markets, meeting the Government’s targets of stabilising macro economy, supporting economic growth at a reasonable level and controlling inflation.  

SBV claims it will continue to enhance lending quality and apply tight controls over lending in potentially risky areas, such as lending to large clients, real estate, and BOT and BT projects in the transport sector.

Many commercial banks have so far also prioritised the quality of lending instead of only focusing on credit growth, as previously reported.

Nghiêm Xuân Thành, chairman of Vietcombank, the first bank to successfully recover all bad debts sold to Việt Nam Asset Management Company and currently has a bad debt ratio of less than 1.5 per cent, said his bank planned to actively promote lending to the Government’s five priority areas this year. Outstanding loans to these areas amounted to VNĐ170 trillion (US$7.49 billion), accounting for 35 per cent of the bank’s total outstanding loans. The priority areas included agriculture and rural development, production for export, small- and medium-sized enterprises, support industry and hi-tech application. — VNS