Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Vietnam banks hike deposit interest rates

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-12 14:13

HANOI -- Commercial banks in Vietnam Wednesday increased their deposit interest rates to an average of over 17 percent per annum, right after the State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, raised the prime interest rate by two percentage points, according to local newspaper Young People on Thursday.

SeABank offered the rate of 18.6 percent, Navibank 18 percent, Ocean Bank 17.8 percent, Lao-Viet Bank 16 percent, and Vinasiam Bank 15.75 percent. Joint stock banks raised the rates most vigorously.

The central bank decided on June 10 to increase the prime interest rate, the basic rate for commercial banks to form trading interest rates, including both deposit and lending rates, to 14 percent from 12 percent, in a move to curb inflation. The new rate took effect on June 11.  

By late 2007, Vietnam's banking system included seven state credit institutions, 31 urban joint stock commercial banks, four rural joint stock commercial banks, 37 branches of foreign banks and five joint venture banks, according to the statistics from the central bank.