Vietnam banks slash loan rates to boost domestic business

By Ky Duyen April 28, 2016 | 11:34 pm PT

Vietcombank cuts rates on medium-and long-term loans

Commercial banks have trimmed lending rates for businesses, putting a cap of 10 percent rate on medium and long-term loans, after the Prime Minister promised the business community a more favorable environment at a meeting on Friday.

Vietnam's largest partly private bank, Vietcombank, was the first to announce it would cut lending rates, setting a maximum of 10 percent on medium and long-term loans in dong.

Vietcombank will also set aside about VND300 billion ($13.4 million) for business loans.

BIDV and Vietinbank have also made similar cuts. The three banks plus state-run Agribank are the country's largest lenders, accounting for 70 percent of the market.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and State Bank Governor Le Minh Hung, in an online meeting with thousands of business people nationwide, called on commercial banks to cut lending interest rates to support domestic businesses.