By March 17 noon, most of the commercial banks in Vietnam had lowered their interest rates on savings accounts with terms of less than 6 months after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced its policy rate cut a day earlier.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will cut its policy rates starting from March 17 in an attempt to support the economy which has been hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Credit growth of the banking system in the first two months of this year reached only 0.06 percent, slowing significantly against the 1 percent rate in the same period last year, due to impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The banking sector is building a credit support programme with a value of $12.2 billion for firms hit by COVID-19, in an attempt to help ease their difficulties, according to an official of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Credit institutions have so far supported more than 44,000 COVID-19 affected customers following directions from the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), an official reported on Monday.

The Government has decided to allow Vietcombank and Vietinbank to increase their charter capital by 10 trillion VND (434.8 million USD) in the first quarter of this year, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said last month.

The State Bank of Vietnam made a net cash withdrawal worth VND86 trillion out of the economy through open market operations (OMO) from January 20 to February 14.

In response to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s appeal, a number of credit institutions have announced plans to support businesses affected by the novel coronavirus (nCoV) epidemic.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has announced it would remove regulations limiting foreign ownership in local intermediary payment firms from its draft Decree No 101.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) was recently invited to become a member of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The State Bank of Vietnam has asked credit institutions to prepare capital sources to meet borrowing demand and provide support to customers who have been affected by the coronavirus epidemic.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has approved Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB)’s proposal to increase its charter capital to VND24.42 trillion (US$1.06 billion) from VND23.73 trillion.

 After a long period of stability, pressure from global markets has caused the Vietnamese dong to depreciate significantly against the US dollar in the past few days.

After being relatively stable last year, the foreign exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar is forecast to be under greater pressure in 2020 due to both internal and external headwinds.

The Vietnamese dong (VND) would average just slightly weaker by around 1 percent to VND23,475/USD in 2020 due mainly to an predicted decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and higher imports.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said it will continue coordinating with concerned Vietnamese ministries and agencies to communicate with the US regarding the US Department of Treasury’s latest report

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will be consistent in regulating monetary policies according to market developments, with no aim for an unfair competitive edge in international trade.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a document requesting credit organisations and branches of foreign banks to expand credit activities serving production, business and consumption as part of efforts to limit “black credit”.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a resolution to boost cashless payments in the country.

Vietnam’s foreign reserves have surged 2.5 times against 2015, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Le Minh Hung said.