Vietnam’s Credit Growth Slows to 17% This Year

The country’s economic growth quickened despite slower credit expansion.

Total credit in the Vietnamese banking system has grown 16.96% in the year to December 20, below an expansion of 18.71% in the whole 2016, government data has shown.

According to the General Statistics Office, total money supply has increased 14.19% this year, below an increase of 16.47% last year, while banks’ mobilization has expanded 14.5%, compared to 16.88% in 2016.

Despite credit growth outpacing deposit growth, liquidity in the banking system remained stable, the government-run office said.

“Overall, lending was focused on prioritized sectors, key projects in line with the government’s guidance that was aimed to buttress economic growth,” it noted.

The Southeast Asian country’s GDP expanded 6.81% in 2017, the most rapid rate since 2011.

The National Financial Supervisory Commission, the government’s financial watchdog, said in a report on December 26 that the ratio of medium- and long-term lending has fallen to 53.7% of total credit this year from 55.1% in 2016, after continuous growth since 2013.

Consumer lending has soared 65% this year, higher than a growth rate of 50.2% in 2016, with a focus on home repair and purchase, it said.

Loans for industry, commerce and other services have increased 21.8% this year and accounted for 78.4% of total credit.

Meanwhile, as much as 18.7% of the lending was funneled into the agriculture sector and made up 8.11% of the total.

The commission noted that loans for real estate and construction have picked up 12.2% from 2016, but the ratio over total credit has dropped to 15.8% from 17.1% in 2016. 

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE