Vietnam expects 12-14% credit growth in 2014
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said it will promptly solve policy and mechanism-related problems to facilitate credit expansion and ensure the sector’s health safety in the coming time.
This was announced at a press conference to initiate the sector’s 2014 tasks held in Hanoi on December 16.
Vietnam’s banking sector is set to grow by 12-14% in 2014. The central bank will continue applying interest rate caps to deposits in VND to stabilise market interest rates.
When the financial market is stable and liquidity improved, interest rate caps on deposits may be lifted, it said.
The bank will also closely monitor fluctuations in the exchange rates, currency market and foreign exchange.
At the same time, it will regularly examine forecasting data on the balance of payments to evaluate currency demand and supply, thus adjusting the interest rates and fixing the dollarisation and the keeping of gold as a hedge among the public.
According to Nguyen Thi Hong, head of the SBV’s Monetary Policy Department, as of December 12, credit operations grew 8.83%, 3.17% lower than forecast. It is, however, estimated to be higher than last year’s rate of 8.91% by the end of this year.
The credit structure saw remarkable improvements, focusing on production and business, especially the prioritised fields.
Between January-November 2013, credit to rural farm production increased by 17%; high technology - driven enterprises, 24.51%; and exports, 3.32%.
Bad debts were also gradually brought under control.
According to the SBV’s estimation, about VND105.9 trillion (US$4.977 billion) of bad debt was settled during 2012 and the first 10 months of this year.
The bank said the interest rate in 2013 was kept stable, increasing only 1% against the forecast rate of 1-3% at the beginning of the year.