Vietnamplus

Domestic banks will continue striving to ensure business performance and deliver on commitments to investors while supporting clients amid difficulties this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on April 28 hosted a reception for Masahiro Yoshimura, General Manager of Business Development Department at Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), who is also in charge of managing Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

The steering committee for the restructuring of credit organisations held a meeting in Hanoi on July 27 under the chair of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

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.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a document requesting credit organisations and branches of foreign banks to expand credit activities serving production, business and consumption as part of efforts to limit “black credit”.

Nearly 9.6 trillion VND (417.3 million USD) worth of bad debts were handled each month from August 15, 2017 to August 31, 2019, or 4.7 trillion VND higher than that during the 2012 – 2017 period.

Vietnam’s economic restructuring and growth model reform in 2016-2020 have been benefiting from positive changes in policies and achievements in the 2011-2015 period, according to economist Nguyen Dinh Cung.

Ho Chi Minh City’s retail sales and services grew by 12.2 percent year-on-year in the first half to nearly 600 trillion VND (25.8 billion USD), according to its Department of Industry and Trade.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu has stated that the SBV will continue stepping up administrative reform in the near future, with a focus on improving the business environment in monetary and banking fields, and corporate support.

A meeting held in Hanoi on May 10 discussed financial solutions for businesses amid the current context in which roughly 20 percent of firms in need of funding still have problems gaining access to credit.

As of March 25, the M2 money supply had risen 2.67 percent, while credit to the economy had grown by some 2.28 percent compared to the end of 2018, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Amidst the growing demands for microfinance in Vietnam, the potential of expansion for the sector is high, but experts have advised that microfinance organisations should work harder to develop in a sustainable manner.

Most of credit organisations expect their business performance will keep improving in 2019, according to the central bank’s Monetary Forecasting and Statistics Department.

The State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) announced on November 29 that it will carry out 190 audits next year, many of which are on major investment projects of public concern.

The interest rates were kept stable in the first six months of 2018 while the lending rates for priority fields have decreased.

The majority of lawmakers supported the expansion of the draft amended Anti-corruption Law’s scope to the non-State sector during the 14th National Assembly’s fifth session on June 13 in Hanoi.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on May 2 opened the first trial for Hoang Van Toan, former chairman of the board of directors of Dai Tin (Trust) Bank – predecessor of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB), Tran Son Nam, former general director of the bank and their accomplices.

Many banks throughout the country need to recruit more employees for their newly opened branches this year or to replace staff members who quit their jobs before the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The second-phase trial against Pham Cong Danh, ex-Chairman of Board of Directors of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB) and his accomplices entered the third day on January 10, when the Ho Chi Minh City court began questioning the defendants.

The current development and future strategies of many local commercial banks are creating confidence about a sustainable growth of the banking sector.