Banking & Finance

Credit institutions are expected to “slightly loosen” overall credit standards this year and focus on priority sectors and industries such as wholesale, retail, import and export, construction, and consumer lending, while tightening them on “high-risk” sectors such as securities and real estate.

At an online discussion at the National Assembly’s extra-ordinary session on January 7 on the draft Resolution on fiscal and monetary policies to support the socio-economic recovery and development program, State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said that, under the law, the central bank cannot force credit institutions to reduce profits to cut interest rate costs, and that it will flexibly use other tools such as reserve requirements.

Under a recent Circular from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), banks must stop entering into interest rate derivative contracts if previous net losses exceed 5 per cent of charter capital. These banks must report to the central bank on the cause of the losses and remedial measures and timeframes.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc has proposed keeping the transfer tax on securities to avoid affecting the development of the stock market. As for the transfer of personal real estate, relevant taxes will be paid at the actual selling price, to avoid tax losses.

VnDirect expects that Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth at listed companies on HoSE will continue to maintain the high of 23 per cent in 2022. Sectors expecting to see strong improvements in earnings growth include industrial goods and services, retail, and real estate, while earnings growth in oil and gas, public utilities, and technology will remain at a high level.

Data from the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) shows that domestic investors opened a record 1.5 million new stock market accounts in 2021. Some 226,580 new accounts were opened in December, an increase of more than 6,000 against November.