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Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV) has just announced the average lending interest rate for March 2024 at 6.49% per year. The average interest rate differential for lending and mobilizing capital is 3.12% per year.
Thus, BIDV is one of the first banks to publish average lending rates according to the Prime Minister’s and State Bank’s guidance.
BIDV is currently the bank with the largest scale of operation and transaction network in Vietnam. By the end of 2023, BIDV’s total assets exceeded VND 2.3 quadrillion, leading the banking industry and surpassing other “giants” like VietinBank (VND 2.033 quadrillion), Agribank (VND 2 quadrillion), Vietcombank (VND 1.839 quadrillion).
In 2023, BIDV’s customer lending debt increased by 16.8%, much higher than the overall banking sector growth rate (13.71%) and reached a record scale in the bank’s history of VND 1.778 quadrillion.
Earlier, in Official Dispatch No. 18/CD-TTg dated March 5, 2024, on the credit growth management in 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the State Bank to direct credit institutions to publicly announce the average lending rates to make it convenient for people and businesses to access credit and choose banks for borrowing capital.
Recently, the State Bank has also issued Official Letter No.1628/NHNN-CSTT on the announcement of lending rates. In the official letter, the State Bank stated that credit institutions (CIs) have basically announced information on lending rates according to the guidance of the Prime Minister and the State Bank. However, some CIs are still in the process of implementing the announcement of lending rates.
Accordingly, the SBV requires CIs to continue to announce the average lending rates, the interest rate differential for deposits and average lending, interest rates for credit programs, credit packages and other lending rates (if any) according to the guidance of the Prime Minister in Official Dispatch No. 18/CD-TTg dated March 5, 2024, Announcement No. 527/TB-VPCP dated December 18, 2023, on the conclusions of the Prime Minister at the conference on solutions to remove difficulties in credit growth for production and business, promote economic growth and stability, and of SBV in Official Letter No. 9759/NHNN-TD dated December 21, 2023, Directive No. 01/CT-NHNN dated January 15, 2024, Official Letter No. 1117/NHNN-CSTT dated February 7, 2024.
CIs are responsible for the completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of the information and published data on the electronic information page of the CIs; clearly explaining the content of the information and published data; proactively receiving, answering, and dealing with difficulties from customers (if any). CIs (Board of Directors, Executive Board, Supervisory Board, Compliance Department, Internal Audit Department, and relevant functional departments of the CIs) are responsible for regularly monitoring to ensure the implementation of the Prime Minister’s and SBV’s directives.
At the online conference of the entire banking industry to boost bank credit in 2024, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu also said that public disclosure is the right guidance of the Government and the banking industry, that is the discipline of management. If CIs do not implement the public announcement of average lending rates, not only the SBV will evaluate but the economy and businesses will evaluate. Or if banks only disclose short-term average lending rates because this interest rate is low, it is also unfair.
“This is the average interest rate, not the interest rate for each target, each business or each type, so there is nothing wrong with it. Therefore, the responsibility of lending and mobilizing should be to announce the interest rate. Banks are requested to perform well. We strive for fairness, objectivity in competition, all banks must strive, this announcement is not difficult”, emphasized the SBV leadership.
