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Vietcombank may halve 2008 credit growth target
Vietcombank, Vietnam's top equitized bank, has sought shareholders' approval to halve annual credit growth this year to 15 percent from 29 percent.
That may show that Vietcombank, which handles a quarter of Vietnam's export and import payments, is feeling the effects of the global economic slowdown.
The unlisted bank has asked shareholders to approve several new targets including a year-end bad debt ratio of below 5.8 percent of loans, instead of 2.6 percent, the Dau Tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment) magazine said Friday.
A Vietcombank statement said without elaborating that the Hanoi-based lender was seeking to "adjust some business targets for 2008 to be in line with the market situation."
Vietcombank expected deposits to be flat this year while total assets at the end of 2008 are forecast to be VND200 trillion (US$12 billion), 5.2 percent below its initial projection, the magazine, run by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said.
Not all banks seem to be suffering in the same way.
Earlier this week State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said that while the central bank aimed to keep the country's annual credit growth at 30 percent, 29 banks had reported loans rising more than 30 percent so far this year.
Other banks had loans up between 15-17 percent, Giau told parliament on Wednesday, without naming banks.
The central bank lowered its benchmark rates last week in a bid to support economic growth, prompting banks to lower their rates on loans and deposits, which may stimulate lending.
Vietnam should keep lowering interest rates next year and manage the exchange rate flexibly in the face of a worsening global economy, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on Thursday.
Vietcombank made a gross profit of VND3 trillion in the first 10 months of 2008, local media said last week, without giving any comparative figures. The bank has said its net profit stood at nearly VND2 trillion for the whole of 2007.
Reuters
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