Banks slash deposit interest rates

Only three lenders have hiked rates, but only for selected terms.

Sacombank increased the rate for deposits of one to three months, BacABank for 12-month deposits and SaigonBank for 9-12 months terms.

Only 10 banks offer more than 5% for one year, the most common term, the highest being 5.3% paid by VietBank and NamABank.

For nine- and six-month terms, most offer 3-4.8% and 2-4.7%. In the case of 13 months and longer, the highest rate is 5.8%.

Bank executives and analysts expect the low rates to persist until mid-year, after which there might be a slight rise as credit demand picks up.

However, interest rates are unlikely to return any time soon to the high levels seen a few years ago.

A bank director said short-term lending interest rates have been slashed to 4%, even lower than deposit rates, to spur credit demand.

Loans outstanding were 0.72% down from late last year at the end of February, indicating subdued demand for loans, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.