HÀ NỘI — Nearly 20 commerical banks cut deposit rates over April 10–11, in line with commitments made to the State Bank of Vietnam to reduce borrowing costs for product and business.

Agribank has announced a 0.5 percentage point reduction in deposit rates for terms of 24 months and longer, effective April 13. This would allow corresponding reductions in lending rates as its internal pricing links medium- and long-term loan rates to 24-month deposit benchmarks.

Vietcombank also cut rates by 0.5 percentage points for 24-month deposits, bringing its highest rate down to 6 per cent.

Eximbank reduced long-term deposit rates by 0.5 percentage points, while LPBank cut rates by between 0.4 and 1 percentage point across lendings with terms from 6 to 60 months.

Other lenders, including SHB, TPBank, VPBank, KienlongBank, ABBank and SeABank, also cut rates by 0.1 to 0.5 percentage points.

At a meeting with Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Phạm Đức Ấn on April 9, 46 commercial banks agreed to lower both deposit and lending rates to support the economy amid persistent financing challenges for businesses.

According to Programme Director of Commercial Business, Phenikaa University, Nguyễn Văn Lộc, rate reductions should target concessional refinancing or credit guarantees for priority sectors such as manufacturing, exports, small and medium-sized enterprises, and key infrastructure projects.

“The challenge for policymakers is to balance macroeconomic stability with growth support, a task that is becoming more complex as policy space narrows,” he said. — VNS