A person counts Vietnamese banknotes. Vietnam’s credit growth, as of December 20, was 12.1%, below the target of 14% set by the State Bank of Vietnam

A report released by the General Statistics Office at a press briefing on the socioeconomic performance in the fourth quarter and the entire year showed that the 2019 credit growth rate was lower than last year.

In the year to December 20, loans had expanded 12.1% year-on-year, while the same period last year saw a year-on-year credit rise of 13.3%, VnEconomy news site reported.

Credit institutions’ capital mobilization edged up 12.5% against the year-ago period, according to the report.

Apart from this, the insurance business in the fourth quarter of 2019 rose by an estimated 20% year-on-year.

This year, the local market saw insurance premium revenues soar 20.3% year-on-year, while the earnings from life and non-life insurance premiums went up 25.1% and 11.6% year-on-year, respectively.

On the stock market, capital mobilization for the country’s economy amounted to VND313.9 trillion, up 12.6% against last year.

As of December 24, the VN-Index added 7.4% against the end of 2018 at 958.88 points. The market capitalization had amounted to VND4,400 trillion in the year to December 17, inching up 10.3%. Additionally, since early 2019, trading value has reached some VND4.6 trillion per session, down 29% against 2018.

As for the bond market, 509 stocks valued at VND1.2 trillion are being listed, up 3.7% against the end of 2018.

On the derivative market, trading volume has reached 89,260 contracts per session on average, since the beginning of the year, up 13%.

Given these results, the General Statistics Office said that capital mobilization and loans remained stable, while the growth of the insurance business was sustainable.

The local stock market has actively developed, significantly contributing to capital mobilization for economic growth. SGT