Banking & Finance

It is difficult to inspect, examine, and collect tax debts due to ongoing social distancing measures. There had been only 46,752 such inspections carried out this year as of the end of September, or 51 per cent of the plan.

The State Audit Office of Vietnam will conduct 168 audits in 2022. Among others, there will be 17 audits at the State Bank of Vietnam, nine in State economic groups, and seven at commercial banks and other financial and credit institutions.

Forty-two corporate bond issuances were conducted in September, mobilizing VND29.734 trillion ($1.3 billion). The real estate group attracted VND8.394 trillion ($369.56 million) in private placements with high interest rates. Experts, however, have warned that this may be the beginning of a “Vietnamese Evergrande”.

Tax payments continue to be delayed as taxpayers still face difficulties in production and business. Tax debts as of September 30 totaled nearly VND118 trillion ($5.2 billion), an increase of 23.5 per cent compared to December 31, 2020.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has set a credit growth target of around 12 per cent for 2021 and believes that although credit in areas of risk is growing rapidly it remains under control.

With abundant liquidity in the system and the continuous addition of VND from foreign currency repurchase contracts, interbank interest rates are expected to not fluctuate to any great extent. In the long term, however, they may be under a degree of upwards pressure, especially at the end of the year.