Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Several local bankshave reduced their interest rates in recent days, going against the bankingsector’s general year-end trend of increasing rates to boost earnings.
On November 11, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) cut its24-month savings rate by 0.2 percentage point to 7.55 percent per annum.
Ban Viet Bank (VietCapitalBank) in early November curbed savings rates by 0.1-0.2percentage point for accounts with terms of less than 12 months and more than24 months. But the bank raised rates for 15-month accounts by 0.2 percentagepoint to 8.5 percent per annum.
At Eximbank, savings rates for 15-month and 18-month accounts were also cutby 0.2 percentage point to 8.1 percent per annum.
Savings rates were reduced by 0.1-0.2 percentage pointsby ABBank, Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB), VPBank and Techcombank.
The banks’ third-quarter financial reports showed they had all recordedincreases in customer savings as of the end of September.
In contrast, other banks have raised savings rates by 0.2-0.7 percentagepoints for less-than-12-month accounts, such as National Citizen Bank(NCB) and Vietnam Public Bank (PVcomBank).
Central banks in Southeast Asia and East Asia such as Thailand, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines have cuttheir base interest rates to stimulate the economy and raise inflation.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) last week pumped a net value of 6 trillion VND (258.6 million USD) into the banking sector to help reduceinterest rates.
At the ongoing 14th National Assembly’s eighth meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged banks to cut lending rates by a minimum of 0.5 percent for prioritisedindustries in 2020 to boost their performances.
SSI Securities Corporation's (SSI) research unit (SSI Research) said in arecent report there was barely a change in both saving and lendinginterest rates in the last two months of the year.
The range of interest rates had not changed much though banks had loweredtheir rates by 10-20 basis points and there was still a gap between small-capand large-cap banks, SSI Research said.
Interest rates of 4.1-5.5 percent per annum for savings withterms of less than six months, 5.3-7.8 percent for savings with terms of 6-12months and 6.4-8.1 percent for savings with terms of 12 and 13 months.
According to SHB General Director Nguyen Van Le, banks were raising long-term capital from customers to boost theirperformances in the final months of the year.
According to the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)’sInstitute for Training and Research, interest rates had increased byon average 0.4 percent in the first 10 months.
Banks wanted to increase capital to meet the demands for borrowing at theyear-end, meet Basel 2 standards on capital adequacy ratio (CAR), and matchthe SBV’s policy to reduce the use of short-term capital topay medium- and long-term loans.
Banks were having difficulties because the credit limit was set at 14 percentfor 2019 so some banks, which had almost crossed the bar, had to considerlowering saving rates to save costs, according to business insiders./.
On November 11, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) cut its24-month savings rate by 0.2 percentage point to 7.55 percent per annum.
Ban Viet Bank (VietCapitalBank) in early November curbed savings rates by 0.1-0.2percentage point for accounts with terms of less than 12 months and more than24 months. But the bank raised rates for 15-month accounts by 0.2 percentagepoint to 8.5 percent per annum.
At Eximbank, savings rates for 15-month and 18-month accounts were also cutby 0.2 percentage point to 8.1 percent per annum.
Savings rates were reduced by 0.1-0.2 percentage pointsby ABBank, Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB), VPBank and Techcombank.
The banks’ third-quarter financial reports showed they had all recordedincreases in customer savings as of the end of September.
In contrast, other banks have raised savings rates by 0.2-0.7 percentagepoints for less-than-12-month accounts, such as National Citizen Bank(NCB) and Vietnam Public Bank (PVcomBank).
Central banks in Southeast Asia and East Asia such as Thailand, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines have cuttheir base interest rates to stimulate the economy and raise inflation.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) last week pumped a net value of 6 trillion VND (258.6 million USD) into the banking sector to help reduceinterest rates.
At the ongoing 14th National Assembly’s eighth meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged banks to cut lending rates by a minimum of 0.5 percent for prioritisedindustries in 2020 to boost their performances.
SSI Securities Corporation's (SSI) research unit (SSI Research) said in arecent report there was barely a change in both saving and lendinginterest rates in the last two months of the year.
The range of interest rates had not changed much though banks had loweredtheir rates by 10-20 basis points and there was still a gap between small-capand large-cap banks, SSI Research said.
Interest rates of 4.1-5.5 percent per annum for savings withterms of less than six months, 5.3-7.8 percent for savings with terms of 6-12months and 6.4-8.1 percent for savings with terms of 12 and 13 months.
According to SHB General Director Nguyen Van Le, banks were raising long-term capital from customers to boost theirperformances in the final months of the year.
According to the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)’sInstitute for Training and Research, interest rates had increased byon average 0.4 percent in the first 10 months.
Banks wanted to increase capital to meet the demands for borrowing at theyear-end, meet Basel 2 standards on capital adequacy ratio (CAR), and matchthe SBV’s policy to reduce the use of short-term capital topay medium- and long-term loans.
Banks were having difficulties because the credit limit was set at 14 percentfor 2019 so some banks, which had almost crossed the bar, had to considerlowering saving rates to save costs, according to business insiders./.
VNA
