Interest rates on deposits at Vietcombank, one of Vietnam’s biggest banks, have been cut to as low as 1.7 percent on some accounts, Vietnam Plus is reporting. This is on the back of lower demand for loans.
Of note, however, is that this comes after Vietnamese banks issued an average of US$14 billion dollars worth of loans in November and December, compared to an average of US$3.6 billion for the first ten months of the year.
This suggests that credit growth in December and November was an anomaly and that the spike in loans was not reflective of an increase in demand.
The SBV is the largest shareholder in Vietcombank owning 74.8 percent of the bank. Japan’s Mizuho Corporate Bank is the second biggest stakeholder with 15 percent of the company, and the remaining 10.2 percent is owned by a mix of domestic and foreign, organisations and individuals.