Credit growth reaches 15.3% in 11-month period

According to the National Financial Supervisory Commission, the government’s financial watchdog, the ratio of medium and long-term loans in the 11 months increased by 12.7% against December last year and accounted for 53.8% of the total outstanding loans.

The rising rate of short-term loans was 18.6%, compared to 15.2% in the 11 months of last year.

The commission also noted that lending in foreign currency expanded 12.3% from the end of 2016, more than doubling the expansion of 5.8% in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, loans in the Vietnamese dong increased 15.6% in the 11-month period, lower than a 16.6% increase in the same period last year, and accounted for 91.8% of total credit.

The commission said that lending for the agricultural sector represented 8.1% of total credit, while that for real estate and construction made up 15.5%, down from 17.1% in 2016, of which 5.8% of the loans were funneled into the real estate industry.

Notably, consumer lending continued at a rapid pace, with growth hitting 59 percent in the 11-month period, driven mainly by home loans.

The commission said the mobilisation growth slowed to 13.5% between January and November, compared to 16.6%, a year earlier.

Liquidity in the banking system remained stable, buoyed by the State Bank of Vietnam net injecting VND124 trillion (US$5.46 billion) since the start of the year via foreign currency purchases and open market operations.

The average loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of the banking system stood at 86.9%, up from 85.6% at the end of 2016.

Interest rates increased by 70-80 basis points in the inter-bank market, while major banks revised up deposit rates, the commission said.