Ho Chi Minh City’s credit growth up 3.5% in first half of 2023

Credit in Ho Chi Minh City totaled VND3,300 trillion (US$139.5 billion) in the first half of this year, up 3.5 percent over the end of 2022, while the rate for the first six months of last year was 9.3 percent, according to the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Lending in the southern metropolis in the six-month period rose 7.1 percent year on year.

The credit growth was in line with the city’s economic expansion and challenges in import markets, and the low demand for capital from enterprises, cooperatives, and household businesses, said Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the SBV's Ho Chi Minh City branch.

In the whole country, credit reached VD12,320 trillion ($520.8 billion), up 3.36 percent against the end of 2022.

Enterprises are facing multiple difficulties given a decline in orders, cash flow disruptions, high inventories, and falling buying power, deputy governor of the central bank Dao Minh Tu said at a press conference on June 21 to announce the banking system’s performance in the first half of the year.

Banks wanted to increase credit, but many enterprises have not taken out new loans and instead paid their previous ones.

The government and the SBV are looking for solutions to remove difficulties for enterprises and boost credit growth in the future, Tu informed.

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