HÀ NỘI — Credit for the entire banking system grew by 10.2 per cent in the first eight months of this year, but many banks recorded much higher growth rates and used almost all of their allocated credit quotas.

The latest data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) shows that as of August 28, total outstanding credit across the banking system stood at VNĐ20.2 quadrillion (US$776.5 billion), an increase of 10.2 per cent compared to the end of 2025. The credit structure remains focused on production, priority sectors and key growth drivers.

SBV Governor Phạm Đức Ấn said that credit allocation continued to prioritise production, business activities, priority sectors and key growth drivers in line with Government policy, with approximately 77.3 per cent of outstanding loans supporting production and business sectors.

A previous banking industry report by the Techcom Securities Company (TCBS) indicated that as of the end of the second quarter, total outstanding credit across the industry stood at approximately VNĐ15.6 quadrillion, a 9 per cent increase since the beginning of the year. In the second quarter alone, credit expanded by approximately VNĐ811 trillion, 1.7 times higher than in the first quarter.

Banks that undertook a mandatory transfer of weak banks expanded at a pace far exceeding the 10.2 per cent industry average. Leading this group were VPBank with a surge of 23.2 per cent, followed by HDBank and MB with a rise of 21.8 per cent and 13.2 per cent, respectively. The three banks were granted exceptionally high credit quotas by the SBV to support restructuring efforts, an advantage they fully leveraged to finance corporate clients and major projects.

Aside from this group, credit growth at many other banks was also higher than the industry average. Techcombank and MSB stood at 15.2 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively. According to TCBS, both banks nearly used their entire allocated quotas after just six months.

TCBS’s analysts said that credit expansion in the second half of the year will depend on two decisive factors: the allocation of additional credit quotas and the capacity to raise capital.

For banks that have used nearly all of their allocated credit growth quota, TCBS noted that the pace of disbursement hinges on whether the SBV grants an additional credit allowance.

As for the remainder, only banks capable of securing new funding will be able to fully use their quotas, as deposits have thus far grown by only 5.5 per cent, representing just 60 per cent of the credit growth rate.

However, TCBS analysts also highlighted factors supporting credit growth for the remaining months of the year, specifically recent policy adjustments by the SBV. These include relaxing the roadmap for the ratio of short-term funds used for medium- and long-term loans, and allowing Treasury term deposits to be counted toward mobilised funds when calculating the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR). 

These adjustments are expected to alleviate constraints regarding prudential ratios, creating the necessary headroom for banks to ramp up lending.

With the adjustments, State-owned banks, which hold the majority of Treasury deposits and face the strictest LDR constraints, are expected to benefit the most and accelerate disbursement in the final months of the year. — BIZHUB/VNS