Falling interest rates facilitate production and business sectors

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Many banks have just launched credit packages with preferential lending interest rates that decreased by between 0.5-3% per year for customers in the fields of business and production, including real estate.

Most recently, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), one of the largest banks in Vietnam, announced that as of January 31, the interest rates for real estate business is likely to be reduced by up to 3% per year from the interest rates that are being applied. The adjusted interest rates will be applied from January 31, 2023 to December 31, 2014.

The deposit interest rates show signs of dropping since late January 2023, raising the hope of a fall in lending rates. (Photo: VNA)

Agribank said it will also spend more than 100 trillion VND in 2023 on preferential loans for businesses, import - export firms, and those operating in the healthcare and education sectors; and reduce interest rates for enterprises meeting difficulties in production and business.

Previously, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) also launched incentive credit packages to support business and production firms.

The wave of reducing lending interest rates has been also recorded in many other commercial banks such the Viet Capital Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Viet Capital Bank), Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), and Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank).

According to Nguyen Huu Trung, Acting General Director of the Vietnam Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietBank), the capital demand of businesses still remains high, so banks need to have appropriate policies to support their customers.

Banks continued to lower deposit interest rates early this month, thus cutting lending rates in general, and those for the real estate sector in particular.

According to a report of Bao Viet Securities (BVSC), the deposit interest rates have showed signs of dropping since late January 2023, raising the hope of a fall in lending rates./.