Bad Debt Ratio at Vietnam Banking System Falls
The bad debt ratio at Vietnam’s banking system has decreased since early 2009 thanks to the government’s demand stimulus package which has helped local firms overcome financial difficulties and pay bank loans.
The warming-up of domestic real estate market has prompted banks to withdraw non-performing debts of 2008 from property investors.
Le Xuan Nghia deputy head of the National Financial Supervision Committee was quoted by the Dau Tu newspaper as saying that the non-performing loan ratio at the whole system will be low at 2.46% in 2010.
Nguyen Hoa Binh, chairman of Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB), or Vietcombank, said the NPL ratio at the Hanoi-based listed lender is 3%, compared to 4% in the first months of 2009.
Vietcombank had raised total outstanding loans to VND137 trillion by late Sept, Binh said, adding that the bank plans to ask more room for credit growth to meet soaring capital demand of rice exporters and petroleum importers by late this year.
Vietnam Export-Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (EIB), or Eximbank, also saw bad debt ratio to fall to 2% from 4.71% in late 2008 and 6% in early 2009. Other lenders, including ACB and Sacombank, posted a low ratio of below 1%.
As of October 30, total outstanding loans of Vietnam banking system rose by 2.04% from September and 33.29% from last December
Of which, outstanding loans in the Vietnamese dong rose 2.03% month-on-month and increased 39.46% year-on-year whereas outstanding loans in foreign currencies were up 2.06% and 10.18%, respectively.
The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, is now keeping the base interest rate at 7% per annum. (Investment)
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