Banks agree to lower interest rates
The State Bank and commercial banks have reached a consensus to lower interest rates, promoting economic growth and supporting businesses and individuals.
To support business production and operations and to implement Resolution 68 on private sector development and Resolution 79 on state economic development, on April 9, 2026, in Hà Nội, the State Bank of Vietnam held a meeting to deploy banking tasks under the chairmanship of Governor Pham Duc An.
At the meeting, Pham Chi Quang, Director of the Monetary Policy Department, stated that in the first three months of the year, the State Bank had proactively and flexibly managed monetary policy to help stabilize the macroeconomy, control inflation, and promote economic growth.
Specifically, open market operations were managed flexibly and proactively in line with market developments and monetary policy objectives, with daily repo offerings of valuable papers in appropriate volumes and diverse tenors to support liquidity and stabilize the money market. Exchange rates and the foreign exchange market were also managed in accordance with market conditions to absorb shocks. Monetary policy tools were coordinated synchronously, including foreign currency sales for intervention, to stabilize the foreign exchange market, maintain macroeconomic stability, and control inflation.
The State Bank also directed credit growth in line with instructions from the Government and the Prime Minister, assigning a credit growth target of around 15% for credit institutions to implement. Banks were required to strictly control credit growth in potentially risky sectors, particularly real estate, while channeling credit into production, business activities, priority sectors, and growth drivers, in line with risk management capacity, limiting bad debt, and ensuring operational safety. Policy interest rates have been kept unchanged to allow credit institutions access to low-cost funding from the State Bank to support the economy.
Recently, the international situation has become increasingly complex and unpredictable, with escalating geopolitical and military tensions in the Middle East pushing oil prices higher, thereby increasing inflationary pressures globally. At the same time, strong domestic capital demand to achieve economic growth targets has posed significant challenges for monetary policy management and banking operations.
Regarding capital mobilization and lending, some commercial banks have engaged in competition for deposits, pushing up both deposit and lending interest rates. To address this, the State Bank convened a meeting with commercial banks to reinforce directives from the Government, the Prime Minister, and the central bank.
At the meeting, commercial banks expressed strong consensus in implementing the Government’s direction to reduce market interest rates to support businesses and individuals. Accordingly, they committed to jointly lowering both deposit and lending rates following the meeting.
In the coming period, the State Bank will continue to closely monitor developments in deposit and lending rates, as well as the disclosure of lending rates on banks’ official websites. It will adopt appropriate monetary policy measures, remain ready to provide liquidity support to commercial banks, and strengthen inspection, supervision, and enforcement of compliance with directives on interest rates. Strict actions will be taken against violations in capital mobilization and credit provision activities of commercial banks.
Hai Phong News