Credit growth slows due to pandemic

By Quynh Trang December 24, 2020 | 03:15 am PT

An employee counts Vietnamese banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Credit growth between January 1 and December 21 hit 10.14 percent, a slower rate compared to previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figure is set to reach 11 percent this year and 12 percent next year, deputy governor Dao Minh Tu said at a briefing Thursday. Last year, credit growth was 13.5 percent.

Tu said the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) since the beginning of the year had thrice lowered policy rates by 1.5-2 percentage points to support economic recovery amid challenges caused by the pandemic.

As a result, the average 12-month loan interest as of November has dropped by around 1 percentage point from the end of last year, he added.

SBV data shows credit organizations this year have prolonged loans due for 270,000 borrowers affected by the pandemic with a total credit value of nearly VND355 trillion ($15.36 billion).

They also lowered or cut interest rates for nearly 590,000 borrowers with a total credit value of over VND1,000 trillion ($43.26 billion).