The State Bank of Vietnam has said it will not cap foreign ownership of companies in the payment services industry in its draft decree to replace Decree No.101.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will cut its policy rates starting from March 17 in an attempt to support the economy which has been hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The lack of independent credit rating firms is hindering the development of the corporate bond market.

Local lenders are considering waiving interest rates of outstanding loans worth VND185 trillion (US$7.94 billion) for 34,350 customers.

With greater liquidity, investors would look for markets deemed safe with less negative impacts from the Covid-19 epidemic.

Experts have warned that the epidemic would lead to increased risk in asset quality.

Credit institutions have so far supported more than 44,000 COVID-19 affected customers following directions from the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), an official reported on Monday.

Tran Ngoc Tho, member of the National Advisory Council on Financial and Monetary Policies, digs into the implications of coronavirus.

Most banks made fat profits in 2019 and some of them had profit of over tens of trillion of dong. But their profits mostly came from lending.

SSI Research says the financial market in 2020 will be unpredictable and much less active than the forecasts released at the end of 2019.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has many times affirmed that Vietnam has no intention of devaluing the local currency to gain advantages in trade with its partners.

The official dong/dollar exchange rate announced by SBV reached a peak of VND23,206 per dollar on February 4, an increase of VND36 per dollar compared with the time before Tet.

Fitch Ratings believes larger, more established finance companies are better-placed to meet the new requirements while newer, smaller companies that concentrate on cash loans may find it harder to shift their business models.

To keep up with the ever-evolving technology, banks have to be well-positioned to engage with the new wave of digitally empowered customers.

With Circular 22, which took effect on January 1, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has laid a new block to restrict capital flow to the property sector.

Total assets of commercial banks under state ownership accounted for 42.7% of the total in the banking sector, followed by joint stock commercial banks with 41.6%.

Vietnam’s banks started replacing magnetic cards with chip cards some years ago, but the process has been going slowly.

Vietnam is one of 10 countries in the latest watchlist for currency manipulation released by the US Treasury Department.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said it will continue coordinating with concerned Vietnamese ministries and agencies to communicate with the US regarding the US Department of Treasury’s latest report

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will be consistent in regulating monetary policies according to market developments, with no aim for an unfair competitive edge in international trade.