Sept dollar credit growth up strongly in HCMC

HCMC – Outstanding loans in foreign currency, mostly the U.S. dollar, at credit institutions in HCMC by the end of this month are forecast to expand 36% from late last year to VND186.1 trillion, according to central bank figures.

The figures from the central bank’s HCMC branch show September dollar credit growth at commercial banks in the city is seen reaching 6.1% month-on-month, up from the 1% recorded in August.

Banks have reported an 8.5% rise in September dollar mobilization from August after they hiked dollar deposit rates early this month. Meanwhile, the amount of dollars raised in August was down 4% month-on-month.

Therefore, banks in the city may have raised a total of VND181.25 trillion by late this month, up 8.4% from late 2009. So outstanding dollar loans continue surpassing mobilization in September and part of the reason is that foreign banks have ample cheap dollar funds from their mother banks and foreign institutions.

In contrast to the dollar mobilization, HCMC banks’ Vietnam dong fund raising in the first nine months this year has been higher than credit growth. By late September, the volume of dong deposits is projected to amount to VND530.7 trillion, up 21.7% from late last year, and outstanding loans VND463.3 trillion, up 9.4% from late 2009.