Reduce costs to lower loan interest rates, PM tells banks

He instructed the State Bank of Vietnam to get banks to speed up disbursement of loan subsidies.

"Credit should be given to priority sectors such as consumption, investment, exports, industrial property development, and social and workers’ housing development," he said in a directive.

The central bank recently increased the credit growth cap by 1.5-2 percentage points to 15.6-16% for this year, which means another VND240 trillion ($10.17 billion) could enter the economy if the limits are reached.

Many banks are charging loan interest rates of 10-11%, with some even hiking them to 13%.