Several private and State-owned banks have reduced interest rates and offered debt relief for customers affected by Typhoon Yagi.

There is still ample room for domestic credit card (DCC) growth since the number of DCC holders is relatively low in Vietnam, according to experts at a recent seminar on DCCs.

Interest rates for VND loans have increased in the past two months after holding steady in the first half of the year.

The interest rates were kept stable in the first six months of 2018 while the lending rates for priority fields have decreased.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) will cut down its lending interest rate for short-term loans in VND for prioritised sectors by 0.5 percent to 6 percent per year from January 15.

Total outstanding loans by commercial banks in HCM City in 2017 rose 18.5 percent from 2016 to more than 1.74 quadrillion VND (76.73 billion USD), according to the State Bank of Vietnam’s HCM City branch.

The credit growth in November rose 2.8 percent against the previous month, pushing the total rise in the 11 months of this year to 15.3 percent.

The Thai government announced on September 1 that it will provide 2.2 billion USD in loans and handouts to farmers to stabilise prices of rice .

The State Bank of Vietnam revised down its prime interest rates in July and those of short-term loans for priority fields.

Business performance at commercial banks is forecast to continue its upwards trend this quarter after making some improvements in the first half of the year, a State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) survey said.