Fitch Ratings, a global credit rating agency, has announced it is keeping the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam's (BIDV) Individual rating unchanged at “D/E”.

This is the third consecutive year that the bank has been classed in this position after sitting at the lowest rating of “E” in previous years.

BIDV's current Individual rating reflects its efficiency, transparency and strong brandname. However, it also shows that there are still some difficulties in balance-sheet strength, and its ability to cope with the impacts and limitations of credit and deposit risks.

Director in Fitch's Financial Institutions team Sabine Bauer said that the BIDV is one of Vietnam’s banks that lead the way in trade and risk management and the bank’s ratings are likely to rise.

BIDV is Vietnam's second-largest bank, holding up to 13 percent of the banking system’s total assets at the end of 2008.

The bank is preparing to privatise 30 percent of its stakes by 2010.

It is also Vietnam’s leading bank in the provision of financial products at international standards. Various international institutes such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have chosen BIDV as a partner.

It was awarded the best local bank for trading foreign currency by the Hong Kong based Asia Money magazine in 2008 and has won other prizes for its trading development measures by the Association of Development of Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) in 2007 and 2008./.