Banking & Finance

Covid-19 has given Vietnam's insurance industry a boost.

To support the development of the domestic livestock industry, especially in the context of Covid-19, the Ministry of Finance has proposed cutting the preferential import tax rate on wheat and corn, which account for a high proportion the ingredients in animal feed, to 3 per cent.

While nearly a million businesses in Vietnam struggle to cope with Covid-19, a number of banks have announced huge first-half profits because 25 to 40 per cent of businesses require loans to maintain operations. Sixteen banks in Vietnam have also agreed to reduce lending rates from July to the end of the year.

The trading system at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) has continually encountered “order congestion” since the end of 2020 as liquidity rises sharply. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has requested an increase in the trading lot size to a minimum of ten shares and support for businesses to switch listings from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) to HoSE.

The credit risk in all fields rose at a slower rate in the first half of 2021 compared to the second half of 2020, according to the results of a credit trend survey of credit institutions conducted by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). The credit risk is, however, forecast to go up in the second half of this year due to uncertainty over the pandemic.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has proposed that the export tax on steel billets be increased and the preferential import tax (MFN) on certain iron and steel products be reduced.