Bank interest in 2021 will remain at low level

Saving deposit at banks is still selected by people because of security and stability

In particular, the bank interest rates in January 2021 of the four "big" banks including Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, and Agribank were stable with the same interest rates, all at 5.60%/year, applied for a period of 12 months or more. The lowest deposit interest rate is 3.10%/year, Vietcombank is at 3.00%/year.

For commercial banks, regarding 1-month terms, the highest interest rate is 3.5%/year at SCB, SeABank, Vietcapital, and GPBank.

For 3-month terms, SeABank is listing the highest interest rate in the banking system with an interest rate of 3.7%/year. Meanwhile, the lowest interest rate for this term belongs to Techcombank with a savings interest rate of 2.85%.

For 6-month terms, NCB took the lead when paying the interest rate at 6.65%; Sacombank with a rate of 6.3%/year.

For 12-month terms, the deposit interest rate in KienLongBank was the highest at 7.10%/year, followed by NamABank at 7.0%/year, and SCB at 6.95%/year.

The term from 12 months or more recorded the highest level among small banks. Eximbank took the lead with interest rates of 8.40%/year for terms of 13 to 24 months, with deposits of VND500 billion or more; OCB is 8.20%/year. And ACB applies the interest rate of 7.4%/year for customers who deposit at 13-months term with a value of VND30 billion or more.

Economic experts believed that the liquidity of banks is now quite abundant, there was no pressure that is large enough to make interest rates rise again in 2021.

According to financial - banking expert Prof. Can Van Luc, Member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, when the economy recovered from a high growth rate, the demand for capital of the economy, businesses as well as the demand for goods, services, consumption of people will also increase, pushing interest rates up.

However, according to Luc, the orientation of the Government and the State Bank was aimed to keep the interest rate stable, so the interest rate level would only rise slightly.

According to SSI Securities Analysis Center - SSI Research, for the whole of 2020, the deposit interest rate has decreased by 1.5 - 3%/year for all terms, the lending rate also decreased by 0.5-2.5%/year and are at historic lows. Hence, deposit rates may bottom out in mid-2021 due to stronger credit growth.

In the opposite direction, according to forecasts of Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), monetary policy would be maintained by the State Bank of Vietnam without tightening pressure. Therefore, the long-term interest rate level in 2021 is expected to be stable at a low level, equivalent to the level at the end of 2020.

In the investment strategy report 2021, VNDirect Securities Company also stated that although the State Bank might not cut the operating rate anymore, it would not raise interest rates during 2021. It aimed to support economic growth by maintaining an easing monetary policy. Therefore, deposit and lending rates will decrease by 0.20-0.5 percentage points in 2021.