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Banks commit to keep saving rate below 14pct
Vietnamese commercials banks have pledged with the central bank to bring deposit interest rate down below 14 percent starting Wednesday, according to a meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam and commercial banks Tuesday.
All bank leaders signed a commitment stating that the highest dong saving rate will be 14 percent per annum, even in case of launching promotion programs (In cash or gifts).
This commitment will be a binding agreement, so any bank that violates regulations will be subject to sanctions from the authorities, including dismissal of bank officials. This is a temporary ceiling rate and will be relieved once inflation is contained, said the central bank.
A meeting between SBV and commercial bank last weekend reached the agreement to cap the saving interest at 15 percent after some banks had began their interest rate race last Wednesday when Techcombank shot up the rate to 17.6 percent.
With the new cap, lending interest rate is expected to be around 16-18 percent per annum.
But the rate should be cut by the end of the first quarter next year due to macroeconomic stability when inflation and forex rate are under control, said Tran Hoang Ngan, Vice Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and a member of the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policy.
The current saving interest is attractive enough for depositors and help raise bank liquidity for the year-end, but it should decline after the Lunar New Year, or Tet, to boost economic growth, Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of Vietnam Center for Economics and Policy Research under the Hanoi-based Vietnam National University, share the same view with Ngan.
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