A State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announcement about a possible cut indeposit interest rates has spurred many banks into action even before anofficial decision is taken.
At a monthlyGovernment meeting that took place on March 6, SBV governor Nguyen VanBinh said that it was the right time for the central bank to lowerdeposit interest rate ceiling by 1 percent.
Foreignbanks are among those that have acted quickly and effected the largestcuts, according to an online report by the Sai Gon Economic Times.
The report says that Australia 's ANZ Vietnam has announced a newstructure of deposit interest rates with a maximum of 13 percent perannum.
The Republic of Korea 's Shinhan VietnamBank has also lowered its deposit rates to an average of 12.8 percentfor different terms. The highest interest rate of 13 percent is appliedto deposits with terms from one to three months.
TheHong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Vietnam also plans tobring down interest rates on deposits and will announce specificfigures in the coming days, the report says.
Meanwhile, deposit interest rates at domestic banks have also started to decline but slightly.
Since March 1, the Export-Import Joint Stock Commercial Bank(Eximbank) has cut its interest rate on deposits of one to 13 months to13.85 percent per year, while 15-month deposits will yield 12 percentper year.
Other joint stock commercial banks such asthe Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Private Enterprises(VPBank) and the An Binh Joint Stock Commercial Bank (AnBinhBank) arealso offering 12 percent rates on long-term deposits.
Speaking about the central bank's policy to cut deposit interest ratesin order to lower the lending rates, the leader of a major joint stockcommercial bank in HCM City , who declined to be named, said it wasa reasonable move at this juncture.
Enterprises are hurting because of the high interest rates on loans, he said.-VNA
However, the move is likely to affect some small banks' liquidity sothe central bank should anticipate this and have measures ready tosupport them, either by pumping money into open market operations (OMO)or refinancing them, he said.
Nguyen Thanh Toai,deputy general director of the Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (ACB),told VnExpress online that at the current deposit rate of 14 percent,his bank's capital resources are very stable, but small lenders stillfaced liquidity problems.
If the central bankdecides to reduce the ceiling deposit interest rate to 13 percent as itplanned, the ACB will still have advantages but small banks would findit more difficult, Toai said.
This would suggest the possibility that small banks will again offer interest rates beyond the 13 percent cap, he said.
The deputy director of a bank with a chartered capital of 3 trillionVND admitted that his bank's liquidity was not a huge problem right now,but its capital mobilisation has already decreased over the last fewmonths.
If the ceiling deposit interest rate is cut to 13 percent, it is difficult to say what would happen to the bank, he said.
At a monthlyGovernment meeting that took place on March 6, SBV governor Nguyen VanBinh said that it was the right time for the central bank to lowerdeposit interest rate ceiling by 1 percent.
Foreignbanks are among those that have acted quickly and effected the largestcuts, according to an online report by the Sai Gon Economic Times.
The report says that Australia 's ANZ Vietnam has announced a newstructure of deposit interest rates with a maximum of 13 percent perannum.
The Republic of Korea 's Shinhan VietnamBank has also lowered its deposit rates to an average of 12.8 percentfor different terms. The highest interest rate of 13 percent is appliedto deposits with terms from one to three months.
TheHong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Vietnam also plans tobring down interest rates on deposits and will announce specificfigures in the coming days, the report says.
Meanwhile, deposit interest rates at domestic banks have also started to decline but slightly.
Since March 1, the Export-Import Joint Stock Commercial Bank(Eximbank) has cut its interest rate on deposits of one to 13 months to13.85 percent per year, while 15-month deposits will yield 12 percentper year.
Other joint stock commercial banks such asthe Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Private Enterprises(VPBank) and the An Binh Joint Stock Commercial Bank (AnBinhBank) arealso offering 12 percent rates on long-term deposits.
Speaking about the central bank's policy to cut deposit interest ratesin order to lower the lending rates, the leader of a major joint stockcommercial bank in HCM City , who declined to be named, said it wasa reasonable move at this juncture.
Enterprises are hurting because of the high interest rates on loans, he said.-VNA
However, the move is likely to affect some small banks' liquidity sothe central bank should anticipate this and have measures ready tosupport them, either by pumping money into open market operations (OMO)or refinancing them, he said.
Nguyen Thanh Toai,deputy general director of the Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (ACB),told VnExpress online that at the current deposit rate of 14 percent,his bank's capital resources are very stable, but small lenders stillfaced liquidity problems.
If the central bankdecides to reduce the ceiling deposit interest rate to 13 percent as itplanned, the ACB will still have advantages but small banks would findit more difficult, Toai said.
This would suggest the possibility that small banks will again offer interest rates beyond the 13 percent cap, he said.
The deputy director of a bank with a chartered capital of 3 trillionVND admitted that his bank's liquidity was not a huge problem right now,but its capital mobilisation has already decreased over the last fewmonths.
If the ceiling deposit interest rate is cut to 13 percent, it is difficult to say what would happen to the bank, he said.
