Nearly 20 banks in Vietnam have generally cut deposit interest rates by 0.5 percentage points per year, while 14 lenders announced lending-rate cuts of mostly 1.5–2 percentage points, reaching up to 3 percentage points in some cases.
The moves respond to requests from the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam to lower borrowing costs for businesses and priority sectors.
VPBank cut lending rates by 1.5 percentage points per year for individual customers operating in six key sectors: pharmaceuticals, consumer retail and food services, construction materials, tourism, agriculture and aquaculture, and handicraft production and trading.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, VPBank allocated VND 10 trillion (US$380 million) for working-capital loans. Rate reductions of up to 1.5 percentage points per year apply to priority sectors including supporting industries, manufacturing, high technology, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and the green economy.
HDBank launched a VND 10 trillion credit package for small and medium-sized enterprises, with rates 1.5 percentage points below its existing preferential lending rates.
TPBank pledged to reduce lending rates by 1.5–2 percentage points, while SHB introduced a credit package for production and business with rates starting at 5% per year and reductions of 1.5–2 percentage points.
Other banks that cut lending rates include Sacombank, which launched a VND 40 trillion corporate lending package; MSB, with a VND 10 trillion package; MB, with reductions of up to 2 percentage points for priority sectors; and OCB, with reductions of up to 2.25 percentage points for OCB Priority Banking members.
The country's four major lenders, Agribank, VietinBank, BIDV and Vietcombank, have also introduced measures to lower lending rates by up to 2 percentage points per year.
Vietcombank is offering cuts of as much as 3 percentage points for short-term loans in certain sectors.
On the deposit side, Sacombank and MSB reduced rates by 0.5 percentage points per year for maturities of six months or longer. VPBank applied a similar reduction to individual customers holding online savings deposits with maturities of 15 and 18 months.
Other lenders that reported deposit-rate reductions include Vietcombank, Agribank, TPBank, ACB, OCB, Nam A Bank, LPBank, BVBank, VietBank, SeABank, PGBank, Bac A Bank, BaoVietBank, NCB and KienlongBank.
At a meeting with 46 commercial banks on the morning of October 19, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Pham Duc An urged lenders to lower interest rates while safeguarding financial-system stability.
The State Bank of Vietnam said the gap between outstanding loans and deposits remained substantial, although it had narrowed from nearly VND 2 quadrillion to less than VND 1.5 quadrillion.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung also pledged decisive and effective measures to reduce lending rates at the opening of the second session of the 16th National Assembly on October 17.
Conclusion No. 106-KL/TW, issued on October 15 following the fourth plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee, calls for lower lending rates, greater credit flows to production, business and priority sectors, and tighter controls on lending to areas carrying potential risks.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
