A Nam A Bank teller offers advice to a customer.

Solid credit growth supports economy

In the first six months of the year, total outstanding credit in Ho Chi Minh City reached over 4.1 quadrillion VND (156.9 billion USD), up 5.5% compared to the end of 2024 and 13.03% over the same period last year, according to Region 2 Branch of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the SBV’s Region 2 Branch, commented that this is a respectable growth rate, given the central bank’s credit growth target of 16% for 2025.

He added that such a credit growth rate could help Ho Chi Minh City sustain its economic growth target and support enterprises.

In the first half of 2025, the Government and the SBV implemented various preferential loan packages for the forestry and fishery sectors. Commercial banks are offering loans from the 100 trillion VND (3.8 billion USD) credit package at rates of 1-1.5 percentage points lower than normal rates.

During the period, banks in Ho Chi Minh City disbursed over 12 trillion VND (459.2 million USD) with current outstanding loans of 4 trillion VND (153.1 million USD) for over 3,000 borrowers, helping to boost trade in forestry and fishery products.

One of the most notable activities of Ho Chi Minh City’s banking sector is a programme connecting banks and enterprises. In the first half of 2025, banks provided loans worth a total of 342 trillion VND (13.1 billion USD) to over 76,600 customers, up 6.35% compared to the same period last year. The disbursement rate of the preferential credit package stood at 66.1%.

According to Lenh, the programme connecting banks and enterprises is a practical measure to bring monetary-credit policy into practice, meeting the need of enterprises, household businesses and cooperatives for affordable loans, thereby promoting economic growth.

Banks ready to support development

At a recent meeting between Ho Chi Minh City leaders and locally based banks, representatives of commercial banks expressed their willingness to accompany the city in its development, especially after Ho Chi Minh City merges with Binh Duong Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province to become a megacity with many key projects.

BIDV Chairman Phan Duc Tu said branches of banks in Ho Chi Minh City have mobilised a total of 350 trillion VND (13.4 billion USD) and lent a similar amount. Banks are investing in key urban and infrastructure projects such as the road linking Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh Airport and the Can Gio development project. BIDV proposed that the city soon perfect the green bond and project bond issuance mechanism as an additional channel to mobilise funds sustainably, while pledging to support the city in building an international financial centre.

Agribank Deputy General Director Phung Thi Binh said the bank’s branches in the city have prepared sufficient funds for lending. Currently its available funds are 180 trillion VND (6.9 billion USD) while outstanding loans have reached only 120 trillion VND (4.6 billion USD). Therefore Agribank has a strong capacity to lend. The Agribank official expressed her hope that the city would announce specific projects for it to participate in and contribute capital.

Currently Agribank has also provided funds for foreign investors to build industrial parks. In addition, Agribank hopes that the city will soon implement the programme to build one million social housing units. Binh emphasised that Agribank has allocated a significant amount of capital for Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to implement social housing projects at preferential rates that are similar to deposit rates.

Nam A Bank is also aiming to roll out various preferential credit packages for the agro-forestry-fishery sector as well as social housing in the remainder of the year. Specifically, Nam A Bank is offering loans for the seafood sector with rates as low as 3.25%. The lender has increased its loan package from 6 trillion VND (229.6 million USD) to 10 trillion VND (382.7 million USD) with rates at 1-2 percentage points lower than normal rates. Nam A Bank is also rolling out a loan package worth 5 trillion VND (191.4 million USD) for social housing with rates at only 6.1% in the first five years.