Credit grew over 13 percent in 2019, slightly below the yearly target of 14 percent, a senior official from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) told a recent press conference.

The State Bank of Vietnam's headquarters. (Photo: State Bank of Vietnam)

This year, the central bank will continue to pursue a pro-active, flexible and prudent monetary policy and work in close on fiscal and other macro-economic policies in a bid to keep inflation below 4 percent, and sustain the macro-economy and the financial and foreign exchange markets, while supporting economic growth.

The bank plans to adopt measures to restructure financial institutions and help them better manage non-performing loans (NPLs) between 2021 and 2025. It also aims to reduce the NPL ratio to below 2 percent.

Last year, the SBV closely complied with the government’s directions and followed market movements in order to come up with a comprehensive set of solutions to enable companies and people to access loans at a reasonable rate to support production.

Credit has been largely funneled into businesses and prioritised sectors while high-risk areas have been strictly controlled.

At the end of 2019, the NPL ratio stood at 1.89 percent, below the annual target of 2 percent.