The State Bank of Vietnam is targeting a 14 percent increase in banks’ total lending in 2019, in line with the credit growth seen previous year, state media reported on Monday, Jan 07.
New loans will be funnelled to prioritized sectors, the central bank’s deputy governor Nguyen Thi Hong as saying, referring to areas such as manufacturing, agriculture and small and medium enterprises, BizLIVE – an online newspaper cited.
According to a report on Reuters, Vietnam’s economic growth traditionally relies heavily on increased credit, though the authorities have been trying to reduce this reliance.
The ratio of bad debt on total loans stood at 1.89 percent at the end of last year, down from 1.99 percent at end-2017, it added.