Vietnam banking sector sees shifting interest and exchange rates

Vietnam's financial landscape is experiencing significant shifts in interest rates and exchange rates. In the interbank market, overnight rates have dropped sharply to 1% per year following a peak of 7% earlier in the week, signaling increased system liquidity.

In the retail banking sector, deposit rates are showing divergence. While major state-owned banks like Agribank, BIDV, Vietcombank, and VietinBank maintain lower rates around 6.6% to 6.8% for 12-month terms, commercial banks such as ACB, Sacombank, and LPBank are offering higher rates, some reaching 7.8% or more. Some digital banks and promotional programs are pushing effective deposit yields as high as 9.6% per year.

Conversely, credit costs are rising. VPBank has announced interest rate updates for 33 credit card lines, with some reaching nearly 48% per year. The rising interest rate environment is also impacting the stock market, creating pressure on liquidity and driving investors toward safer assets like deposits and government bonds, though insurance stocks have shown resilience as defensive plays.