One-week term transactions in Vietnamese dong dominated the interbank market during the first week of December, while the lending rate was down 0.49 percentage points against November to 3.26 percent.

According to the central bank's weekly report released on December 12, total value of the week transactions in dong was 93.96 trillion VND (4.4 billion USD) and the value in US dollar transaction was about 2.8 billion USD.

One-week term transaction in the dong accounted for 33 percent of the total value, followed by overnight term 32 percent and two-week term 15 percent respectively.

Corresponding interest was up to 0.54 percentage points lower than previous week to 2.56-3.62 percent.

In the commercial market, lending interest rates were reported to have remained stable through the first week. For dong loans, privileged interest rates ranged from 7 percent to 9 percent per annum, while common lending rate were 9-11.5 percent per year.

Dollar loans were charged about 4-7 percent per year.

The State Bank of Vietnam also warned that credit institutions offering loans at lower interest rates than deposit rates should be investigated.

Interest rates for dong deposits were reported to remain around 7.5-8.5 percent yearly for more than 12 month terms; 6.5-7.5 percent for six to 12 months, and 5-7 percent for one to six- month terms.-VNA