VietNamNet Bridge – The total assets of the domestic banking system expanded 2.54% in 2012, equivalent to VND 126 trillion (US$6 billion), according to the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

The data also shows that most of these assets were contributed by State-owned commercial banks, which saw a rise of VND232 trillion (US$11 billion), or 11.78%.

The SBV reported that the total assets of joint stock banks decreased VND 102 trillion (US$4.8 billion) compared with 2011.

The central bank said that the equity of the banking system rose more than VND 35 trillion to nearly 8.97%.

The equity capital of most credit institutions increased against 2011.

However, financial companies have seen both equity and charter capital decrease compared to 2011. Figures from commercial banks included the total charter capital of credit institutions reached VND 392 trillion by the end of last year, a rise of 11.24%.

The year 2012 was considered a turbulent and challenging period for the entire banking sector as many issues arose relating to credit quality, bad debt and cooled credit. The banking system witnessed soaring bad debts while profits declined dramatically.

According to a source from the SBV, the total banking profit last year stood at VND 28.6 trillion, a decrease of nearly 50% compared with 2011. While the profits of large scale state-run commercial banks remained stable, profits of join stock banks are estimated to have dropped by half.

Last year, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) of the banking system reached 0.79%and 10.34% respectively.

Source: VGP