The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has requested commercial banks to control disbursement in risky business fields such as real estate, consumer credit and securities investments.

VietNamNet Bridge - Investors now are feeling the heat from bank shares as prices escalate every day.

Small banks and finance companies are now rushing to issue credit cards and compete with big banks as they believe the development potential of the credit card market remains great.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s leading banks Vietcombank, BIDV and VietinBank will have to list shares on overseas bourses under a plan for the next eight years.

VietNamNet Bridge - An ecosystem for organic agriculture is taking shape in Vietnam, helping ease  difficulties for startups in the field.

VietNamNet Bridge - FE Credit and HD Saison have reported lower growth rates as they have had to settle problems arising after a hot development period.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) may not approve the commercial banks’ proposal on lifting the credit growth rate ceiling, but banks still believe they will be able to fulfill their yearly business plans.

VietNamNet Bridge - At most banks, loans provided to the real estate sector account for no more than 7 percent of their total outstanding loans, but the figures are above 10 percent at other banks.

A number of banks have rushed to raise the deposit interest rates in the last two months. The record interest rate increases are feared to have a negative impact on the market. 

The current scale of the Vietnamese bond market is only one-third of South Korea’s and one-half of Malaysia’s, while its trading value in the government bond secondary market is equal to Thailand’s, but much lower than South Korea’s and Singapore’s.

The depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the dollar has raised concerns that Vietnam’s goods will become less competitive in comparison with Chinese goods if Vietnam does not devalue its currency.

Many banks have had credit growth rates near the ceiling set by the State Bank (SBV), which has warned that it will not consider lifting the rate ceiling for any bank.

A Vietnamese corporation has reportedly spent $14 million at an auction to buy a shopping mall in the suburbs of Marrickville in Sydney, Australia, taking the first step in its plan to penetrate overseas markets.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese are increasingly borrowing money to spend on consumer goods as consumer loans had reached $5 billion by the end of 2017.

Experts have urged the government to stop accepting deposits in US dollars from the public, saying that this is a necessary to stabilize the forex market and exchange rate, and fight against dollarization.

VietNamNet Bridge - While the dollar appreciation brings great benefits to exporters and enterprises which have earnings in dollars, it has caused importers and manufacturing enterprises to suffer.

VietNamNet Bridge - Experts say the legal framework for consumer financing is still not open enough, creating difficulties in attracting foreign capital.

The State Bank of Vietnam, in an effort to strictly control credit growth in the second half of the year, will take unscheduled inspection tours to banks that are pouring  money into the real estate sector. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The outstanding loans of most commercial banks increased in the first half of the year, while non-performing loans (NPL) also rose slightly.

VietNamNet Bridge - The nation’s foreign debts had reached VND2,451,978 billion as shown in the government’s report to the National Assembly on using loans and managing public debts as of the end of December 2017.