Vietnam - Vietnam banks asked to report on credit availability

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Monday asked commercial banks to submit reports detailing credit access for businesses.

SBV also requested information on the difficulties and outdated regulations businesses encounter when they apply for credit. It said commercial banks should include suggestions on how to improve credit access and business efficiency.

Credit quotas

The SBV has announced credit-growth rates allocated to commercial banks.

Under Directive No 1, four credit institutes and bank groups have been allocated credit-growth rates from zero to 17 per cent this year, based on the health of the organisation and their performance last year.

Those with well-performing lenders will be classed in groups A and B, and weaker lenders in groups C and D. Group A will receive the highest credit growth of 17 per cent.

They include Vietnam Maritime Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Maritime Bank), Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VP Bank), Vietnam International JS Commercial Bank (VIBank); and Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SeABank).

Commercial banks listed in Group B will receive a credit-growth quota of 15 per cent. They include Nam A Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Navibank); and Dai A Joint Stock Bank (DaiAbank).

After receiving the allocated credit-growth quotas, several banks developed specific lending plans for 2012. Maritime Bank, for example, developed a lending plan to control credit activities to ensure the growth rate not exceed 17 per cent at any time this year.

VPBank said although it had been classified by SBV in group A with a credit-growth quota of 17 per cent, its lending rate for non-production sectors had climbed to 16 per cent. Thus, the bank does not plan to offer many personal loans.

Navibank will focus its loans on small and medium-sized enterprises, with a lending rate of no more than 10 billion dong.

An expert at the HCM City Banking University said the number of banks in weak groups C and D was considerable.

Vietnam News

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