Interest rates continue to hit rock bottom.
From June 19, 2023, the State Bank of Vietnam adjusted the policy interest rate downwards for the fourth consecutive time. Accordingly, the "ceiling" interest rate for short-term deposits is now only 4.75%/year. Despite this, deposit interest rates for both short-term and long-term maturities have continuously fallen to new lows.
For short-term maturities (1 month and 2 months), the Big 4 group (state-owned institutions: Vietnam Foreign Trade Commercial Bank – Vietcombank, Vietnam Investment and Development Bank – BIDV, Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank – VietinBank, and Vietnam Agricultural and Rural Development Bank – Agribank ) also lowered their rates to a "low" level of only 3.4%/year.
For longer terms (from 12 months to 60 months), the lowest rate also drops to just 6.3% per year.
Meanwhile, some joint-stock commercial banks also adjusted their 12-month term interest rates below 7%/year, such as Lien Viet Post Commercial Bank - LPBank (6.6%/year), DongA Commercial Bank - DongA Bank (6.7%/year), Vietnam Technological and Commercial Bank - Techcombank (6.9%/year), and Saigon Commercial Bank - SCB (6.95%/year).
Ten days after the State Bank of Vietnam lowered its policy interest rate, deposit interest rates have continuously hit new lows. However, the highest rate remains at 8.6% per year. (Illustrative image)
Several other institutions are "pegged" to a 12-month term interest rate of 7% per year, such as Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank ( Sacombank) , Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank), Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB), and Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (KLBank).
Most notably, An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBank) saw its highest interest rate increase on June 19th – the day the new interest rate ceiling was implemented. The highest rate offered by this institution was still 11.2% per year for deposits under 1,500 billion VND. However, since September 23rd, the highest rate has been drastically reduced to just 7.8% per year.
The highest rate still reached 8.6% per year.
Although deposit interest rates have been continuously adjusted downwards by banks, the highest rate currently on the market is 8.6% per year at Vietnam-Russia Bank (VRB), applicable to 24-month and 36-month terms.
In addition, VRB currently offers many terms with interest rates above 8% per year, such as 8.5% per year (18 months), 8.4% (15 months), 8.3% (13 months), and 8.2% (12 months). For a 6-month term, the interest rate also reaches 7.8% per year.
DongA Bank has significantly reduced interest rates, down to below 7% per year (except for the 13-month term). However, customers of this bank still have the opportunity to enjoy interest rates above 8% per year if they have sufficient funds.
Specifically, for a 13-month term, with interest paid at maturity, customers will receive an additional 1.2% if their deposit is 500 billion VND or more. Thus, the highest rate at DongA Bank reaches 8.3% per year, not 7.1% as stated in the listed rate.
Additionally, Construction Bank (CB) also listed interest rates of 8.15% per year for a 12-month term and 8.25% for a 24-month term.
Meanwhile, Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has also implemented a new interest rate schedule. Accordingly, the highest rate has also dropped below 8%/year. That is 7.7%/year applicable to terms from 12 months to 36 months for online applications.
As for certificates of deposit, SHB lists an interest rate of 8.6%/year for a 6-year term and 8.8%/year for an 8-year term.
Managing interest rates in line with macroeconomic balance and inflation.
According to Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Dao Minh Tu, thanks to the management and guidance measures of the State Bank, interest rates have basically stabilized, and deposit and lending rates are trending downwards.
The average deposit interest rate of commercial banks is approximately 5.8%/year (down 0.7% compared to the end of 2022); the average VND lending interest rate is approximately 8.9%/year (down 1.0%/year compared to the end of 2022).
In the coming period, the State Bank of Vietnam will continue to closely monitor market developments and the domestic and international economic situation to flexibly and synchronously manage monetary policy tools and solutions to control inflation, contribute to macroeconomic stability, stabilize the money and foreign exchange markets, and control credit growth rate according to the set targets.
Manage interest rates in line with macroeconomic balance, inflation, and monetary policy objectives; continue to encourage credit institutions to reduce costs and lower lending interest rates to support businesses in recovering and developing production and business activities.
According to the latest information released by the General Statistics Office on the morning of June 29th, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June 2023 increased by 0.27% compared to the previous month. Overall, the average CPI for the first six months of this year increased by 3.29% compared to the same period last year.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, Director General of the General Statistics Office, assessed that the 3.72% growth rate in the first six months of the year was not high, but major balances were ensured, macroeconomic stability was maintained, and inflation was controlled at an appropriate level in the context of facing many difficulties and challenges both domestically and internationally.
Source
Comment (0)