Hanoi (VNA) – Amid multiple risks and uncertainties in the global economy, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will maintain a proactive, flexible, timely, and effective monetary policy in harmony with fiscal and macro-economic measures to prioritise growth, uphold macroeconomic stability, and control inflation, according to SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha.
Ha noted that on July 8 (Vietnam time), the US announced new tariffs of 25–40% on imports from 14 countries, effective from August 1, with threats of further hikes if retaliatory measures are taken. Though inflation trends toward target levels, resurgence risks remain.
These global financial and monetary risks are pressuring Vietnam’s domestic monetary policy, exchange rate and interest rate management, and efforts to achieve the 2025 economic growth target of 8% or higher, he stressed.
The official said that the SBV has instructed credit institutions to reduce operational costs, advance digital transformation, and adopt IT solutions to lower lending rates. It will also manage exchange rates flexibly according to market movements, using monetary tools to ensure foreign exchange stability—a foundation for macro-economic balance and inflation control.
Credit growth will be guided by macro-economic conditions, inflation trends, and capital absorption capacity. Efforts will promote safe and effective lending toward production, business, priority sectors, and growth-driving industries while closely monitoring high-risk areas.
The SBV will continue implementing its 2021–2025 plan to restructure credit institutions alongside resolving non-performing loans (NPLs), said the Deputy Governor. It is stepping up measures to prevent new bad debts and executing decrees on cashless payments and banking innovation via the sandbox mechanism.
By June 2025, total credit had reached over 17.2 quadrillion VND (658.43 billion USD), up 9.9% from end-2024 and 19.32% year-on-year—the highest growth rate since 2023—signalling strong recovery in manufacturing, agriculture, and supporting sectors.
Pham Chi Quang, Director of the SBV’s Monetary Policy Department, noted that the first-half credit growth was 2.5 times higher than the same period in 2024, substantially boosting the economy. With a 2025 inflation target of around 4.5% - higher than 2024, the SBV has room to stimulate credit without overburdening price stability.
Capital is the economy’s lifeblood. To reach 8% growth in 2025 and double-digit rates beyond, credit must remain a key driver, Quang stated.
He emphasised that credit expansion must go hand-in-hand with quality control, NPL oversight, and systemic risk management. Restructuring credit institutions remains a core 2025 priority.
On January 3, the SBV íntructed commercial banks to engage in the social housing, worker housing, and old apartment renovation credit programme under the Government's Resolution 33/NQ-CP.
Loans under this programme are excluded from annual SBV-imposed credit growth quotas. Effective through 2030, lending is capped at levels registered by participating banks, he stated.
Current interest rates are 6.4% per annum for developers and 5.9% for homebuyers, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous period, and markedly lower than the initial 8.7% and 8.2% rates.
By the end of May, banks had disbursed 4.09 trillion VND, including 3.46 trillion VND to developers across 27 projects and 630 billion VND to homebuyers in 25 projects./.
