Vietnam’s central bank sets new deposit interest rates

HANOI, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — The State Bank of Vietnam has set new maximum interest rate for Vietnamese dong-denominated deposits of organizations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches.
With terms from one month to less than six months, the maximum rate has been set at 4.75 percent per year from Nov. 20, Vietnam News reported Tuesday.
Terms of less than one month will enjoy the maximum rate of 0.5 percent per year.
The interest rate applied for U.S. dollar-denominated deposits of organizations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches is zero percent per year, said the central bank.
At people’s credit funds and microfinance institutions, the maximum interest rate for dong-denominated deposits with terms from one month to less than six months is 5.25 percent per year.
The large gap reported recently between the credit and deposit growth has created a liquidity pressure for the banking system, the central bank said, citing a rising rate of credits much higher than deposits. While credits surged by 10.08 percent in the first 10 months of this year, deposits increased by only 4.79 percent. ■