Moody’s Investors Service has taken rating actions on 14 Vietnamese commercial banks in its latest report issued on August 14.

Moody’s has lifted the long-term local and foreign-currency deposit and issuer ratings of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank). 

Moody’s has lifted the long-term local and foreign-currency deposit and issuer ratings of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), and Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank).

The firm has also upgraded the long-term counterparty risk ratings (CRR) and counterparty risk assessments (CRAs) of VietinBank and BIDV, and affirmed those of Vietcombank.

The firm has also upgraded the long-term foreign-currency deposit ratings of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Military Bank (Military Bank), and Vietnam Technological and Commercial Bank (Techcombank). All other ratings of these three banks stayed the same.

At the same time, Moody's has upgraded the long-term local and foreign-currency bank deposit and issuer ratings of five banks, including An Binh Bank (ABB), Lien Viet Post Bank (Lien Viet), Tien Phong Bank (TPBank), Vietnam International Bank (VIB), and Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VP Bank) while all other ratings of them remained unchanged.

Moody's has also upgraded the long-term CRR and CRA of Saigon - Hanoi Bank (SHB), Ho Chi Minh City Development Bank (HDBank), and Orient Bank (OCB) while all other ratings of the three banks were affirmed.

Additionally, the credit rating provider has changed the outlook for the local currency deposit and local and foreign-currency issuer ratings of eight banks, namely Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, ABB, Lien Viet, TPBank, VIB and VP Bank, from positive to stable.

The rating actions follow Moody's upgrade of Vietnam's sovereign rating from B1 to Ba3, and change in the outlook for the sovereign's rating from positive to stable on August 10.

The upgrade is underpinned by strong growth potential, supported by increasingly efficient use of labour and capital in the economy. A long average maturity of government debt and a diminishing reliance on foreign-currency debt point to a stable and gradually moderating government debt burden, particularly if strong growth is sustained over time. 

The upgrade also reflects improvements in the health of the banking sector that Moody's expects to be maintained, albeit from relatively weak levels. –VNA