HCM City refunds 1.4 mln USD of VAT for foreigners; VAMC announces interest rate for purchased bad debts; Imports of under-9-seat-cars soar; Toyota expands its recall campaign; Land rentals likely to rise

 VietNamNet Bridge – International institutions are remaining doubtful about the ability of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) to settle bad debts.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) has purchased nearly VND4 trillion (US$190.4 million) in bad debts from 10 credit institutions in the first quarter of this year,

 VietNamNet Bridge – The watchdog agencies are considering laying the “rails” for VAMC (the Vietnam Asset Management Company) to go ahead to settle the bad debts it buys from credit institutions.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam has remained relatively robust amidst the turmoil in international financial markets, HSBC has said in a regular monthly report.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have urged commercial banks to list their shares on the bourse to make it easier to control the banks’ finance situation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The economy wraps up the grim year 2013 in stability, with many major economic indicators showing robust growth, but stagnation remains a major concern for 2014 and the years that follow.

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly half a year since the Vietnam Asset Management Company was established to restructure the Vietnamese banking system’s bad debts, VAMC chairman Dang Thanh Binh spoke with VIR about the company’s achievements

 Holiday season drives prices up; VAMC eats up bad debts from credit institutions; SBV to continue gold auctions; New house tax to fund infrastructure; Exports need quality breakthroughs; New shipbuilding firm to begin operations

 Banks are being questioned over the quality of the credit checks after it was revealed that the Truong Ngan Company owed debts to seven different banks while using the same collateral.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese banks see bad debts increasing, but all of them have got higher capital safety. Meanwhile, the commercial banks believed to have high capital safety are the ones which may lose capital easily.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Though recognizing the efforts by the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), experts have pointed out that VAMC is not experienced enough to deal with bad debts.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on ministries, sectors and localities to continue strongly applying measures to stabilise the macro-economy and rein in inflation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Non-performing loans totalled VND138.98 trillion (US$6 billion) by the end of July, accounting for 4.58 per cent of commercial banks' total loans, according to the latest data from the State Bank of Viet Nam.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many banks are hoping to offload their bad debts on the new asset management company after the central bank removed a major hurdle to selling their bad debts to the new asset management company,

 VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Vietnam has just issued Circular 19 regulating operations of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), giving it the mandate to auction bad debts at credit institutions.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Investors should be wary of investing in bank shares as the industry faces potential shake-ups in the near future.

 VietNamNet Bridge - While Vietnamese banks are not much interested in selling bad debt for debt settlement companies, many foreign investors are very excited.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Unable to clear inventories to get money for debt payment, a lot of debtors have to pay in their shares.

VietNamNet Bridge – The last three years have witnessed the deaths of a series of companies and coffee material collection agents in the Central Highlands.