|
Vietnam's bad debt rises to 3.04 pct in July
Bad debt in Vietnam's banking sector rose to 3.04 percent of total loans in July from 2.16 percent at the end of 2010 but the level is still "within control," the country's central bank said on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, an official newspaper quoted an senior government advisor who has expressed concern about banks with bad loans as saying the state policy "is to merge or dissolve those banks in the coming time."
The comment by Le Xuan Nghia, the vice chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee, was published in Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper, which reported that bad loans at some banks stemmed from real estate projects.
The updated percentage of bad loans was given by the State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement on its web site (www.sbv.gov.vn) that did not give any amounts.
The SBV statement gave no details about the bad loans or perspective on why the percentage has increased this year.
Many analysts and economists believe the true level of non-performing loans in Vietnam's banking system to be much higher than the official figure. However, they say it is difficult to get an accurate tally because banks and companies often have little incentive to categorise troubled loans as bad debt and seek ways to avoid doing so.
In June, Nghia said hat bad debt in Vietnam, especially that owed by inefficient state-run groups, was a major concern and could pose a risk to economic stability in coming months as banks have not come up with plans to clean up their books.
Bad-debt ratio seen rising
State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh in July projected the bad debt ratio to rise to 5 percent of total loans by the end of 2011.
The central bank has said that outstanding loans at the end of 2010 totalled $125 billion, an amount nearly 20 percent larger than gross domestic product.
Loans at the end of last month rose 8.85 percent from the end of 2010, the central bank said in the Wednesday statement.
Loans for the production sector rose 14.79 percent while loans for real estate fell 10.1 percent, the statement said without giving a clear timeframe.
Banks have now cut dong lending interest rates to 17-19 percent, the central bank said, from as high as 20-25 percent earlier this year.
Money supply as of Aug. 30 increased 9.16 percent from the end of last December, a sharp raise from the 3.57 percent growth by July 20, central bank data shows.
It is below a growth of 16.41 percent in the same period last year, the statement said.
The government has cut Vietnam's annual credit growth target to below 20 percent this year to curb inflation, from an initial target of 23 percent, following a rise of 27.65 percent in 2010.
Money supply growth target has also been cut to 15-16 percent this year from 21-25 percent earlier projected, after a rise of 23 percent in 2010.
In its Wednesday statement, the SBV also said it is "ready" to sell dollars to intervene and stabilise the foreign exchange market. It is proposing a plan to mobilise gold to raise foreign reserves.
Vietnam's central bank has been selling U.S. dollars to banks in recent weeks to support the weak dong , which has come under pressure since early August following months of stability, market sources said.
tuoitrenews
|
