Vietnamplus

Vietnam always considers the US one of its most important partners and wishes to continue developing its comprehensive partnership with the country, especially in economic, trade, and investment cooperation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has told US officials.

Leaders of banks predicted bad debts will not only cause bad impacts in the short term but also in the long run when the COVID-19 pandemic is pushed back, especially in 2021.

Many banks no longer benefit from demand deposits as the low-cost capital source has declined sharply due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-performing loans are still increasing despite slow credit expansion as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches many businesses to their limits.

Findings from a recent Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes survey showed 37 percent of Vietnamese consumers are now using contactless card payments.

Some organisations have rushed to sell shares of Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) to retrieve bad debts, but it was not easy to find buyers agreeing with the offered price.

Some banks are speeding up the recovery of non-performing loans (NPLs) this year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The popularity of contactless payments has rocketed in Vietnam over the last few years, with banks launching more options for customers to enjoy going cashless.

To encourage customers to deposit money online amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many banks have raised interest rates for online savings by up to 1.4 percent higher than over-the-counter deposits.

Thirty-seven commercial banks have confirmed the reduction of fees for fast interbank fund transfers following the move of the National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (NAPAS) to halve the switching fees for local banks from March 25.

A number of commercial banks have lowered their interest rates on savings accounts by 0.1-0.4 percentage points in order to offer loans at a lower interest rate to businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The banking sector is building a credit support programme with a value of 285 trillion VND (over 12.2 billion USD) for firms hit by the epidemic of the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), in an attempt to help ease their difficulties, according to an official of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Seventeen out of 45 commercial banks slashed the fees for interbank transfers of small sums worth less than 500,000 VND (21.5 USD) following the move of the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) to cut switching fees with an aim to promote cashless payments.

In recent days, many domestic banks have lowered both deposit and lending interest rates for short-term VND loans to support businesses in the year-end months.

Several local banks have reduced their interest rates in recent days, going against the banking sector’s general year-end trend of increasing rates to boost earnings.

A sewage treatment plant funded by the Government of the Republic of Korea (RoK) through Korea Eximbank was inaugurated in Long Xuyen city in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on October 8.

The USD/VND exchange rate has grown strongly at the heart of the global fight over economic dominance between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies.

Many of them have paid dividends in shares, issued bonus stocks, or even asked to retain their dividends.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) has said that it has agreed to open a 2 billion USD credit line to Vietnam’s State-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) in a bid to help more Korean companies venture into the fast-growing economy.

Experts said that the recent increase in the USD/VND exchange rate is not a concern as the State Bank is experience enough to deal with the situation.