A customer makes a deposit at a bank in Hanoi. Deposits at banks increased by 1.38 percent to nearly 11.1 quadrillion VND in the first two months of 2022. (Photo: VNA)Accordingto the latest data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), deposits increased by1.38 percent to nearly 11.1 quadrillion VND in the first two months of 2022.
Amongthe total, deposits of individual customers reached more than 5.46 quadrillionVND, up more than 56 trillion VND against January 2022 and 159.6 trillion VNDagainst December 2021.
Depositsof corporate customers were more than 5.63 quadrillion VND, down 8.8 trillionVND against December 2021.
Lastyear, deposits of individual customers at banks declined as many depositorswithdrew their savings to pour into more attractive investment channels amid decliningdeposit interest rates.
Expertsattributed this year’s growth to banks’ application of deposit interest ratehike programmes to attract depositors. Deposit interest rates at many bankshave so far increased by 0.3-0.7 percent against late last year.
Mostrecently, VPBank announced the new savings interest rate list for individualcustomers from April 15. Specifically, the highest savings interest rate at thebank was raised from 6.7 percent per annum to 6.9 percent per annum, applicableto online savings of more than 50 billion VND on the term of 36 months. Forsmaller deposits, the new interest rate level at VPBank ranges from 6.1 percentto 6.7 percent per annum, up 0.4-0.6 percentage points against previously.
Similarly,the 12-month and 24-month savings rates at VPBank both rose by 0.4 0.6percentage points after the adjustment.
AtMBBank, new savings interest rates have been applied since April with anincrease of 0.2 percentage points on short terms from one to three months andthe long term of 36 months. The highest rate at the bank is currently 6.6 percentper annum, against 6.4 percent per annum as in March.
Manyother banks have also raised the savings interest rates for individualcustomers such as Techcombank, NamABank, OCB, SCB, LienVietPostBank, HDBank andACB.
Expertssaid the move to increase deposit interest rates at banks during this period isunderstandable when credit demand is rising significantly. Credit increased by5.04 percent by the end of March 2022, 2.3 times higher than the same periodlast year. This figure reflects the rapidly increasing demand for capital toserve production and business after a long period of stagnation due to thepandemic.
SaigonSecurities Incorporation has recently raised its credit growth forecast in 2022to 14.5-15 percent, 0.5-1 percentage points higher than its previous forecast.This will create significant pressure on savings and lending interestrates in the near future.
Inthe latest macro report, VNDirect Securities Company also said it would bedifficult for savings interest rates to remain low this year due to highercapital mobilisation demand when credit accelerates. In addition, the inflationpressure and fierce competition from investment channels such as real estateand securities will cause interest rates to increase in order to attract idlecash flows.
Thisyear, VNDirect forecast savings interest rates to rise by 0.3-0.5 percentagepoints and 12-month savings interest rate to reach 5.9-6.1 percent per annum bythe end of the year, higher than the current average rate of 5.6 percent perannum./.
VNA
