This was revealed by Vietnam Report on June 27 in its announcement of the top10 prestigious commercial banks in Vietnam in 2018. Many banks in its surveylast month planned positive profits in their shareholders’ meeting. Some evenexpected a growth rate of 40-65 percent.
In 2017 and the first half of 2018, the banking sector witnessed strong andstable progress, focusing on restructuring.
The management policies of State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) achieved some success.The central bank absorbed quite a lot of foreign currency, thus increasingforeign reserves, controlling inflation, stabilising foreign exchange rate andensuring payment balance surplus.
In 2017-18 period, banks made headlines for their internal restructuring aswell as for their market image, human resources, business strategy and mergerand acquisition.
The rate of bad debts reduced sharply in 2017. According to SBV, creditorganisations resolved 753.5 trillion VND worth of bad debts from 2012 to March2018. Banks have been active in resolving bad debts, especially those sold tothe Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC). The top 10 banks, such asVietcombank, ACB, Techcombank and MB Bank, completed resolving bad debts soldto VAMC in 2017, while Vietinbank completed the process in the first quarter ofthis year.
During this period, many banks achieved a high and stable growth rate. Expertsattributed this to the net interest margin maintained at an ideal level by thebanks.
However, banks are expected to face some challenges in the time ahead.According to specialists of Vietnam Report, risks of credit, liquidity andinterest rate will still be key issues.
Currently, the high credit growth has been transferred from real estate toindividuals, which is considered less risky. High consumption credit means theincrease of fake and fraudulent information to apply for consumption loans. Inthe context of a surge in trust loans, the competition will become fiercer,making banks vulnerable to risks.
The list of top 10 commercial banks has been announced annually since 2012based on an evaluation of reputation, financial capacity and growth potential.
The top 10 prestigious commercial banks in Vietnam in 2018revealed by Vietnam Reportare Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, Vietnam JointStock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, Joint Stock Bank for Investment andDevelopment of Vietnam, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, AsiaCommercial Bank, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Prosperity JointStock Commercial Bank, Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Saigon-HanoiCommercial Joint Stock Bank, and Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank.-VNS/VNA