Several banks swiftly lowered deposit interest rates last week, paving the way for reductions in lending rates in the near future to bolster businesses and fuel recovery.

Several commercial banks have started reducing deposit interest rates by 0.1 to 0.4 percentage points in response to the Prime Minister’s direction to lower rates to help achieve the Government’s 8% growth target in 2025.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a circular on interest rates applied to US dollar (USD) deposits of organisations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches.

Despite low interest rates, bank deposits have reached a new historic peak of VND16 quadrillion (US$628.5 billion) as of the end of March, according to the latest data from the central bank.

Credit within the banking system to the end of May 2024 increased by only 2.41% against the end of 2023, far from the credit growth target, the Government reported.

Many banks have adjusted up savings interest rates by 0.2-0.3% per year since early this months to lure depositors in the context that the savings amount at the banking system has declined for the first time after 25 consecutive month increase.

A decrease in deposit interest rates has been recorded in a number of banks from the beginning of April.

Deposit interest rates are expected to remain low until the middle of 2024, with a slight increase anticipated thereafter due to higher credit demand, analysts said.

VOV.VN - The domestic SJC gold price on March 9 morning continued its upward trajectory, reaching VND82.2 million per tael to surpass its all-time records.

VOV.VN - Domestic gold prices set a new record on March 7 as they hit VND82 million per tael for SJC gold bars and VND68.8 million per tael for gold rings.