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Vietnam extends deadline for banks to raise capital
Vietnam has extended by one year to December 2011 the deadline for banks to raise their registered capital to 3 trillion dong ($154 million), the central bank said on Tuesday.
* Vietnam may give banks more time to up capital
A bearish stock market and a government ruling that restricted investment by state business groups in banks had made it tough for lenders to meet the deadline, the State Bank of Vietnam's chief inspector, Duong Quoc Anh, said.
Share issue regulations affecting several listed banks were another factor, Anh said in an interview published on the central bank's website (www.sb.gov.vn).
The move had been expected on Vietnam's main stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh City, helping the VN index .VNI rise 3.63 percent on Monday. The index slipped back 0.12 percent on Tuesday.
The government had told banks to raise their registered capital by the year-end as part of a strategy to strengthen the banking system. Registered capital determines the size of a bank's loans and deposits.
Banks have scrambled to raise funds this year, with many issuing stocks or offering stakes to strategic partners.
Only half of the 22 lenders that needed to raise their capital this year had completed the task by the end of October, news website VnExpress.net said, quoting central bank data. ($1=19,490 dong).
REUTERS
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