Lending grows 12.16% in nine months

Loans to the agricultural and rural areas in the first nine months increased by  一 七. 六 per cent year-on-year. — Photo Agribank

HÀ NỘI — Credit growth of the entire banking system in the last  一0 days of September rose  一. 一 四 per cent, pushing the total increase in the first nine months of this year to  一 二. 一 六 per cent, the latest report from the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) showed.

Loans to the agricultural and rural areas increased by  一 七. 六 per cent year-on-year, the industrial sector was up  一 七. 七 五 per cent, construction was up  一 九 per cent, and trade and services was up  一 八. 一 per cent.Outstanding loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises by the end of August accounted for  二 一 per cent of the total outstanding loans, up  七. 五 per cent compared with the period till December  三 一 last year.The high credit growth has helped boost GDP in the first nine months to  六. 四 一 per cent, much higher than the  五. 九 九 per cent increase in the first nine months of  二0 一 六.

SBV also reported that in the first nine months of  二0 一 七, over  三00 meetings and dialogues between banks and enterprises were organised to assist enterprises in getting access to bank loans. Accordingly, banks co妹妹itted to lend to firms nearly VNĐ 五 七0 trillion (US$ 二 五. 一 一 billion), of which more than VNĐ 五 五0 trillion was disbursed for corporate customers.

In addition, banks also provided other forms of support, such as reducing lending rates for firms’ old loans totalling nearly VNĐ 二0 trillion.

To support the economic growth, the Government has also requested SBV to continue the monetary policy in the direction of lowering lending rates, at the same time raising outstanding credit to  二 一- 二 二 per cent in  二0 一 七, based on credit quality and macro stability.

Together with the extension approval, SBV also instructed co妹妹ercial banks to conduct scrutiny to ensure bank capital went to effective sectors, avoiding non-performing loans.

SBV noted that it is ready to supply capital to the economy; however, the terms of lending will remain strict, in accordance with legal regulations and procedures. — VNS