3:09:52 PM | 16/7/2009
Local and international economists and analysts gathered at a seminar held in Hanoi on July 14 to discuss measures to manage non-performing loans (NPL) in Vietnam amid the global economic downturn.
At the seminar titled “Managing Non-performing Loans in Vietnam, International Experience and Strategies to Maximize Returns to Banks,” co-hosted by Vietnam Banks’ Association and Grant Thornton Co, the National Finance Supervision Department, a government agency, said that the bad debt of local banks accounts for 3 per cent of total outstanding loans so far this year, up 2.5 per cent from the end of 2008.
The NPL is lower than the 14 per cent high seen in the years after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the department noted.
“NPL is higher than that of last year, but is still at secure levels as local commercial joint stock banks are much stronger,” an official of the department emphasized.
Vietnamese banks have their own policies to address NPL, Philip Peterson, an official of ANZ said.
The banking system in Vietnam is developing fast but unsustainably, Matthew Lourey, CEO of Grant Thornton Co.’s corporate finance department said.
NPL in Vietnam’s banking system could actually account for 15 per cent-20 per cent of outstanding loans, up from the level of 5 per cent, Matthew Lourey estimated.
At a separate meeting with local banks on July 14, Nguyen Van Giau governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, urged that they ensure safety and security in credit activities.
Governor Giau also cautioned the threats of inflation in the second half of this year and asked local banks not to loosen lending conditions.
Vietnam’s total payments balance (M2) has risen 16.36 per cent since early 2009 while total deposits at local banks have expanded 16.2 per cent and total outstanding loans have jumped 17.01 per cent.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has recently ordered the SBV to cap credit growth at 25 per cent to 27 per cent this year. (Local sources)
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