The whole banking system handled nearly VND97 trillion ($3.8 billion) worth of bad debts in the first six months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 28.9%, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

By the end of May, total on-balance-sheet debt of credit institutions were estimated at VND833.3 trillion ($32.74 billion), up 10.8% year-on-year.

Non-performing loans in the banking system accounted for 6.9% of total lending, including on-balance-sheet debt, debt sold to the central bank-run Vietnam Asset Management Company, and rescheduled loans that are potentially convertible into bad debt.

The SBV targets to reduce the bad debt ratio to under 3% from current 6.9%.