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Banks busy as rates begin to fall
With major banks beginning to pull back from the high deposit interest rate regime necessitated by surging inflation a few months ago, people are flocking to banks to deposit money before the bottom falls out of interest rates.
On September 24 the Viet Nam Export and Import Bank (Eximbank) was the first to reduce its rates, cutting interest to 16.4-17.3 per cent a year on deposits of one to four months, to 15.6-15.99 per cent for six to eight months, and 15 percent for nine to 15 months. The rate for all these deposits had been 17.58 per cent.
On September 29 the Dong A Commercial Joint Stock Company followed suit, cutting rates by 2.4 to 3.2 per cent for all deposits. Its 12-month rate is now 15.54 per cent, down from 17.9 per cent.
The Viet Nam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) in HCM City cut rates to 16.2 per cent, 16.8 per cent, and 17.2 per cent for 12, nine and six months, down from over 17 per cent.
The Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) has made the deepest cuts. Its rates for 12, nine, and six months are now 14.9 per cent, 15.6 per cent, and 15.9 per cent, down from 17.6 per cent.
Many small banks are also planning to cut their deposit interest rates soon.
People in HCM City are scrambling to put their money in banks after a downward spiral in deposit interest rates cuts was forecast starting, in early October.
For instance, deposits rose by VND1 trillion in September at ACB.
But smaller banks enjoy an advantage since they have kept their rates at higher levels than major banks.
Viet A Commercial Joint Stock Bank, for instance, still offers 18 per cent on 12-month deposits, and Kien Long Bank otters 18.25 per cent.
VNN
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