Vietnam’s foreign currency lending skyrockets in 8 months

Vietnam’s lending in foreign currencies grew 11.5 percent in the first eight months of this year, 6.7 fold higher than the same period last year.

Meanwhile, lending in Vietnamese dong (VND) grew 11 percent, according to the country’s National Financial Supervision Commission on Tuesday.

Local experts attributed the significant growth in foreign currency credit to attractive lending interest rates compared to VND loans.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, lending interest rates ranged from 2.8 percent to 4.7 percent per year for loans in U.S. dollars, and between 6 percent and 9 percent for VND loans in the January-August period.

Vietnam has capped deposit interest rate for U.S. dollars at zero percent since late 2015.

Report courtesy Xinhuanet