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Vietnam to rein in credit growth, keep base rate stable
The Finance Ministry has asked the government to keep credit growth below 30 percent this year after banks saw credit expand about 15 percent by the end of May from the end of 2008.
The ministry also suggested keeping the dong’s base rate stable at 7 percent, although it did not give a timeframe, VnExpress quoted the ministry as saying.
The trading band for the dong should be maintained at 5 percent either side of a midpoint reference rate set daily, it said.
Total loans in the first five months stood at VND1,460 trillion (US$86.1 billion) as credit expanded under an interest rate subsidy scheme the government implemented to spur the economy, the report said.
Most of the credit growth came from dong-denominated loans, estimated to total about VND1,200 trillion ($70.8 billion) at the end of May, up 20.6 percent from the end of 2008, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, foreign currency loans fell 6.3 percent in the period from the end of last year to VND251.6 trillion (about $14 billion).
The Finance Ministry also said total bank deposits in the January-May period grew 13.6 percent from the end of 2008. Dong deposits rose 16.4 percent to VND1,200 trillion and foreign currency deposits were up 4.7 percent to around VND330 trillion (about $18.3 billion).
thanhnien, reuters
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