The State Bank of Vietnam has asked State-owned, commercial banks and joint stock banks in which the State holds more than 50 percent of their registered capital to cut operation costs and lower lending interest rates.

The State Bank of Vietnam said on Mar. 22 that this move aims to effectively implement the Government’s Resolution No. 1 issued on January 3 on key measures to carry out socio-economic development plans and State budget estimates in 2012.

Accordingly, five commercial banks including the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Housing Bank of Mekong Delta (MHB) will have to cut operations costs by between 5-10 percent.

At the same time, these banks will implement their 2012 business plans in line with the Government and State Bank’s orientation and measures on monitoring monetary policy and banking operations.-VNA