Vietnam’s credit growth up 10.6 percent in first nine months

By VnExpress October 7, 2016 | 02:49 am PT

A man on a bicycle rides past the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters

The credit growth target of 18-20 percent could be difficult to reach this year.

Vietnamese dong and U.S. dollar loans expanded by 11.65 percent and 1.62 percent respectively from January to September, the State Bank Of Vietnam said in a statement on its website, adding that this followed the government's plan to cut dollar hoarding.

The State Bank of Vietnam, or the central bank, has targeted annual credit growth for 2016 at between 18 and 20 percent in a bid to boost economic growth, up from 17.26 percent in 2015.

Bad debts in the banking system fell to 2.58 percent in the second quarter from 2.61 percent in the first quarter, the central bank said.

HSBC warned in a recently report that higher food and fuel prices are likely to push Vietnam’s inflation up in the final months of this year, leaving the central bank limited room to cut interest rates.

The Hong Kong-based lender, however, said annual inflation in 2016 would not exceed the Vietnamese government’s estimate of 5 percent.

>ADB lowers Vietnam's growth forecast to 6 percent

>Bad debt on the rise in Vietnam's banking sector