The banking system in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has made tremendous effort to play its role in local economic development and contribute to the cause of industrialisation and modernisation.
Mr Le Dinh Lieu, Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Branch of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said: In the past years, the Branch has timely carried out policies and guidelines of the State and the SBV, and created most favourable conditions for credit institutions to expand operating networks. At present, the province has 191 banking units, including 36 commercial bank branches, a branch of PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC), seven people’s credit funds, one transaction of non-resident bank, six branches of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) with 121 transaction offices, and 19 credit funds.
Lenders in the province always stick to socioeconomic development objectives and orientations in specific periods in association with the SBV’s assigned plans and guidance. Bank branches and people’s credit funds pay attention to improving the quality of capital mobilisation by expanding networks, diversifying methods and increasing customer policies to raise unemployed capital from the public. Capital sources mobilised by local credit institutions have grown consistently in the past 20 years. As of end-June 2011, deposits reached VND49,271 billion, an increase of 34.6 times from 1991 when the province was re-established. The structure of mobilised capital was positively altered. While savings deposits only accounted for 1.8 percent in 1991, the value reached 49.7 percent of total deposits as of June 30, 2011. This is a remarkable progress in capital mobilisation of local credit institutions, a basic and long-term advantage for credit institutions to fund local economic development, particularly to finance major projects.
In addition to the increase in funding sources, credit investment operations have also made progress. While funding large-scale projects, credit institutions have provided loans for a variety of borrowers, particularly business households, farms, small and medium enterprises in the province. By strongly diversifying borrowers, total loans keep rising. As of June 30, 2011, outstanding credits reached VND27,100 billion, a rise of 55.5 times over 1991, or an average annual growth rate of 23.2 percent.
The proportion of medium- and long-term loans has increased, with focus on effective projects. Outstanding medium and long-term loans totalled VND12,441 billion as of June 30, 2011, accounting for 45.9 percent of total outstanding loans, an increase of up 414.7 times over 1991.
In addition to commercial loans, credit institutions in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province have coordinated with local authorities to lend poor households and prioritised people to contribute to national poverty reduction programme in the province.
To further promote its role in funding business development, the banking sector of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province will focus on building specific action programmes to realise the objective of growth, safety and efficiency and assert its leading role in realising the province’s targets of becoming a modern industrialised sea-based economy by 2015.
Thanh Thao
Vietnamese
