Interest rates are stable at low levels, banks strive to stimulate credit demand

Interest rates decreasing and stabilizing at low levels are one of the conditions stimulating credit growth in the first half of this year and are expected to improve positively in the second half of the year.

Outstanding loans increase as interest rates stabilize at low levels

As of April 15, the total outstanding credit balance of the entire system reached VND 16.23 trillion, up 3.95% compared to the end of 2024, more positive than the result at the same time last year (up 1.21%). According to the information stated in the report for questioning sent to the National Assembly by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the total credit of the entire system increased by 18.19% compared to the same period last year and continued to focus on the production and business sector, priority sectors and growth drivers, according to the direction of the Government.

The continued downward trend in lending interest rates is one of the factors positively affecting credit growth. As of April 10, the average lending interest rate for new transactions of banks was 6.34%/year, down 0.6%/year compared to the end of 2024. Banks have published information on average lending interest rates on their websites to provide more information for customers to refer to when accessing loans.

Since the beginning of this year, the State Bank has had many solutions to increase access to credit such as applying information technology, simplifying loan procedures, implementing many incentive programs, and restructuring debt repayment terms to support customers facing difficulties. The Government and the State Bank have also directed banks to create favorable conditions for people and businesses to access bank credit capital to develop production and business.

Notably, this year, the State Bank of Vietnam has set a credit growth target of about 16%, double the GDP growth target. Therefore, to facilitate credit institutions to provide capital, this agency has publicly and transparently announced the principles of assigning credit growth to banks.

In addition, the operator continues to implement a roadmap to limit and eventually eliminate the management of credit growth targets for each credit institution, in order to create positive conditions. Specifically, foreign banks, joint venture banks, cooperative banks and non-bank credit institutions are proactively controlling this target this year.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Region 2 Branch, said that by the end of April 2025, the total outstanding credit balance of credit institutions in the city reached about 4,018 trillion VND, an estimated increase of about 2% compared to the end of 2024 (while in the first 4 months of 2024, credit increased by 1.31%, in the same period of 2023 it increased by 1.72%).

Banks strive to stimulate credit

According to the financial reports of the first quarter of 2025 of 27 listed banks, the total outstanding loans to customers increased by about 3.82% compared to the beginning of the year, equivalent to nearly VND 452,500 billion in additional disbursements, raising the total outstanding loan scale of the group to nearly VND 12.3 million billion. This development shows that credit in the first quarter of this year had a very positive start.

The reason, according to financial expert Le Hoai An, lies in the difference in growth distribution. If in previous years, the fourth quarter was often the period of concentrated growth, causing the first quarter to slow down, then 2024 will witness a more stable credit growth momentum each quarter. In the first quarter of 2025, banks will not need to concentrate their efforts to compensate as before, but can maintain a steady credit expansion rhythm right from the beginning of the year.

Credit growth in the first quarter of 2025 reflects the trend of credit recovery across the industry, but at an uneven level across segments. Corporate credit played a leading role in the first quarter of 2025, but banks set a target of high retail loan growth in 2025. According to expert Le Hoai An, this shows that consumer credit is expected to become the key to removing bottlenecks in credit growth pressure, contributing to promoting economic development.

To stimulate credit growth, on April 15, the State Bank of Vietnam issued Official Letter No. 2756/NHNN-TD requesting commercial banks to implement a special credit program specifically for the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors with a total scale of up to VND100,000 billion. Borrowers are customers with valid production and business projects and plans in the above-mentioned sectors. Loans will be disbursed until the total lending turnover of the entire system reaches VND100,000 billion.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/lai-suat-on-dinh-o-muc-thap-ngan-hang-no-luc-kich-cau-tin-dung-d287365.html