Agribank plans to increase assets by 20 percent

Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the country’s biggest bank, said it plans to raise total assets by 20 percent to more than VND450 trillion (US$25.7 billion) next year.

“The asset value will increase as we expect to boost total deposits by about 20 percent next year,” Nguyen The Binh, chief executive officer of the lender told Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other bankers at a conference in Hanoi Tuesday. “We will also increase loans for agricultural production by 17 to 18 percent next year.”

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries make up 22 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product, which grew 8.5 percent last year. The government is trying to accelerate growth after the economy expanded at 6.23 percent, the slowest pace in nine years.

State-owned Agribank’s total assets reached around VND380 trillion ($21.8 billion) this year, Do Tat Ngoc, chairman of the lender, said in an interview Tuesday. Pretax profit is estimated at about 2.5 trillion ($143.1 million), “slightly higher” than last year, according to Ngoc.

 Bloomberg

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