VietNamNet Bridge - Using fake documents and the help of some banking officers, some businessmen appropriated over VND1 trillion of three banks.

 State sets new lending rates for VND loans; MoF may increase export tax on woodchips; Investors snap up Government bonds; VN's richest men increase asset value; Fishery firm ups profit by 31 times

VietNamNet Bridge – Some economists say commercial banks now make “super profit” when keeping the input and output interest rate margin at six percent. Meanwhile, banks have denied this.

Fish breeding may disappear from Hanoi village; Ministry proposes minimum wage increase delay; Rental property market challenged by recession; Financial restructuring fails to show results

Rice market awaits news on Filipino buyers; Property trading to be put under tighter control; HSBC Vietnam unveils profit for the first time; HCM City says to choke off slow-moving projects

The State Bank of Vietnam has unexpected allocated the credit growth rate quotas to commercial banks. The disbursement for the national economy must not be higher than 12 percent in 2013.

VietNamNet Bridge – Collecting workers for export turns out to be a more difficult job than labor companies and the local authorities could imagine.

 Viet Nam News reporters Bich Huong and Nguyen Ngoc get opinions on a draft circular of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) about lending to low-income house renter

The State Bank of Vietnam’s inspectors have come to a conclusion that the loans to Dang Van Thanh and his family’s companies some years ago were illegal, forcing Thanh to pay debts to reduce the outstanding loans to the allowed level.

Commercial banks have been told by the State Bank to lower the deposit interest rate to 7.5 percent per annum. However, if they do, they would not be able to attract deposits.

Shrimp industry beset by problems; Resolution outlines SBV tasks; Dong Nai drafts master plan; Disagreement on power price hikes proposed by EVN; State Bank offers low interest rate for housing

The debt of $600 million, together with interest of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) has been agreed by over 51% of the creditors to convert into new bonds, with a term of 12 years.

Unable to access bank loans, businesses have to play tricks to seek loans from other different sources.

Vietnamese keep indifferent to the banks’ plan to modernize the payment methods, a step towards the non-cash economy, because the 17 existing kinds of fees have been burdening them.

Misfortune does not come alone. The banking sector, which has bogged down in the high bad debt ratio and big corporate governance problems is also facing the wave of investors’ capital withdrawal.

VietNamNet Bridge – The tentative suggestion on requiring via-bank payment for the transactions of valuable products, to many people, is just “trifle,” and raises no worry to them, because they believe they can play tricks to dodge the laws.

The biggest obstacle for finance institutions to expand consumer finance services is the government’s policy which does not give support to the sector.

VietNamNet Bridge – The credit packages with preferential interest rates offered by commercial banks are all the short term ones, while banks do not intend to push up long term lending.

Whether Vietnam can settle bad debts or not will decide how the Vietnam’s national economy performs in 2013. Meanwhile, it’s still unclear where the money to settle the bad debts comes from.

The government has vowed to obtain a higher GDP growth rate in 2013 and lower inflation rate than in 2012. However, economists keep doubtful about the feasibility of the plan.