Moody's raises outlook for Vietnam's banking system

Banking bigwigs are going to have to show how they got so rich in the first place.

Endless credit poses the risk of funds being misused by the country's four major banks.

The government has only recouped 15 percent of the bad debt it's bought from troubled banks.

The country needs $25 billion to address bad debt, equivalent to 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2015, financial experts say.

That would be higher than the central bank's target of between 18 and 20 percent for the year, and a sharp rise from last year.

The State Bank of Vietnam on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to keep the bad debt ratio at less than 3 percent of outstanding loans in 2016.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) plans to step up efforts to restructure the banking system and clear bad debts through mergers and acquisitions of commercial banks, said Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue on Friday during a meeting with a central bank official.

DOHA - Credit cards on the limit, huge bank borrowings and a struggle to repay loans: these are the personal debt problems of some Qataris despite the Gulf state's reputation for fabulous wealth.