The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) - Ho Chi Minh City Branch has announced that the estimated amount of remittances sent to the city in the first half of 2023 is US$4.4 billion, equivalent to 66 percent of the amount in 2022.
The outstanding credit balance in the region during the first half of the year amounted to around VND3.3 quadrillion, up 3.5 percent compared to the end of 2022, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the SBV-HCMC Branch.
In the past five years, overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City have consistently maintained a relatively high growth rate and accounted for the largest share in the country, playing a crucial role in the city's economic development.
Through the Bank-Business Connection program, commercial banks disbursed VND568.34 trillion, equal to 131 percent of the preferential credit package registered since the beginning of the year, an increase of 16.6 percent compared to 2021.
Credit in Ho Chi Minh City has increased by 12.13 percent in the first nine months of 2022. Besides, business support activities have been implemented well. Specifically, the Bank-Business Connection Program in 2022 has disbursed nearly VND344.21 trillion to 28,303 borrowers with preferential interest rates of 6.5 percent per annum for short-term loans and 9.5 percent per annum for medium and long-term ones.
Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City Branch, said that by the end of September 2022, credit growth in the city is estimated to increase by 12 percent compared to the end of 2021, a sharp increase of 4.97 percent (in 2021), 4.99 percent (in 2020), and 10.2 percent (in 2019), respectively, compared to the same period in the previous three years.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City Branch, on August 31, said that credit in the first eight months of 2022 in the city exceeded VND3.1 quadrillion, an estimated increase of 11 percent compared to the beginning of the year.
More than 100 customers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, business households, and small traders in District 1 were lent more than VND4.9 trillion by three commercial banks in Ho Chi Minh City with preferential interest rates to help reduce business costs for more efficient production and business activities.
Representatives of 20 enterprises in export processing zones and industrial parks (EPZs-IPs) and four commercial banks signed and re-signed credit contracts worth more than VND4.66 trillion (US$200 million) at a recent conference to connect banks and businesses.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Ho Chi Minh City Branch informed that by the end of February 2022, the total credit balance of city-based credit institutions was estimated at over VND2.93 quadrillion, up 1 percent compared to the end of January and 3.54 percent compared to the end of 2021. This growth shows that HCMC's economy has a quite strong recovery because it is nearly twice as high as the national average.
Since the beginning of 2021, Ho Chi Minh City has supported more than 406,000 customers with a total outstanding balance of more than VND471.19 trillion under the policies of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on supporting businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the city will strengthen the Bank and Business Connection Program with a credit support package of about VND70 trillion.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Statistical Office, by August 1, the total credit outstanding balance of the banking system in the city had exceeded VND2.68 quadrillion, an increase of 13.1 percent over the same period last year and 5.8 percent compared to the end of last year. This is a good credit growth in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The State Bank of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City Branch (SBV-HCMC Branch) has recently asked local credit institutions to continue implementing solutions to support and remove difficulties for borrowers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic according to the regulations on debt repayment rescheduling, exemption, and reduction of interest rates and fees, and new loans following Circular No.01/2020 and Circular No.03/2021 of the SBV.
