Commercial banks in Vietnam have resumed providing loans when the credit growth limit for 2010 starts up.
Ho Xuan Nghiem, deputy general director of Sacombank said that the Ho Chi Minh City-based listed bank will re-provide loans for its traditional customers only.
Sacombank will not give lending priority for the customers who do not use other service products of the bank, Nghiem said.
Sacombank’s credit growth is targeted at 40%-45% in 2010, lower than the 2009 limit of 60%-70% so selecting new borrowers will be harder, he explained.
Nguyen Thanh Toai, vice general director of ACB, said the lending starting-up of 2010 will focus on corporate customers having good business performance. Customers at ACB, however, will have to pay a fee depending on loans, Toai added.
Short-term lending rates in dong by local banks have risen strongly and are expected to stay high, supported by robust corporate demand to settle down year-end payments. The highest lending rate was 17% per annum.
The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, earlier targeted a credit growth of 25% for 2010.
Since early December last year, local commercial banks had to increase interest rates, take back mature loans and stop giving out the new ones as a result of a fall in mobilization and high credit growth.
The central bank estimated total outstanding loans of local banks to rise 37.73% by end-2009, surpassing 7.72% of the whole-year limit.
Vietnam’s economy grew 5.32% in 2009 and is expected to expand by 6.5% by end-2010. (Youth)
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