Several commercial banks in Vietnam have recently started raising deposit interest rates in a move to retain their depositors and raise funds to prepare for the Government-initiated demand stimulus program.
VP Bank and Ocean Bank were the pioneers in this trend.
VP Bank has raised the deposit interest rates for all term deposits, with the lowest increase at 0.15 per cent per annum (3 and 4-month term deposits) and the highest increase at 1 per cent (36-month term deposit).
At present, depositors enjoy the highest interest rate at 8 per cent per annum if they make 36-month term deposits.
Ocean Bank has only adjusted the interest rates for the 9-month and longer term deposits with interest rate increases of between 0.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent. The highest interest rate the bank is offering is 8.2 per cent per annum, applied to the 12-month term and longer deposits.
A common trend in the interest rates applied by the two banks is that the higher interest rates are offered for the longer-term deposits, which proves to come in regular laws in the context of the stable market.
Director of a Hanoi-based bank believes that raising deposit interest rates is necessary for all banks, especially as they are joining the Government’s demand stimulus program.
Besides, banks also need to raise the deposit interest rates because they fear depositors may withdraw capital from banks once the interest rates are too low and unattractive.
“There have been signs of clients withdrawing deposits from banks to pour money into other investment channels, like real estate, gold and foreign currencies. The massive capital withdrawal may occur with any banks if they keep low interest rates,” the director said.
Last year, when the market faced liquidity problems, banks applied higher interest rates for shorter-term deposits, while the highest interest rates were applied to 3-9 month term deposits. (Youth)
Vietnamese
