As of June 30, 2025, Group 5 debt - classified as loans at risk of capital loss - among Vietnam's commercial banks reached more than VND 163 trillion (approximately USD 6.83 billion), marking an 8% increase from the beginning of the year.

In absolute figures, the leading banks in terms of Group 5 loan balances as of mid-year include: BIDV with VND 27.669 trillion (USD 1.16 billion), an increase of VND 8.7 trillion (USD 364 million); Agribank with VND 19.583 trillion (USD 820 million), down VND 3.054 trillion (USD 128 million); VietinBank with VND 15.093 trillion (USD 632 million), up VND 1.473 trillion (USD 61.7 million); SHB with VND 11.574 trillion (USD 485 million), up VND 460 billion (USD 19.3 million); and Vietcombank with VND 11.340 trillion (USD 475 million), an increase of VND 1.111 trillion (USD 46.6 million).

These banks also dominate the local lending market, accounting for over 50% of Vietnam's total credit supply. Therefore, it is not surprising that they also lead in absolute debt figures.

However, in terms of the ratio of Group 5 loans to total outstanding loans, these banks still maintain relatively low levels. Notably, Agribank and SHB even reported declines in their Group 5 loan ratios.

Specifically, BIDV’s Group 5 loan ratio stood at 1.3%, an increase of 0.36 percentage points; Agribank was at 1.05%, down 0.26 percentage points; VietinBank was 0.8%, up 0.01 percentage points; SHB was 1.69%, down 0.01 percentage points; and Vietcombank was 0.73%, up 0.02 percentage points.

Altogether, 16 commercial banks have recorded an increase in Group 5 loans since the beginning of the year.

Despite reductions from early 2025, BaoViet Bank and PVComBank still rank among the banks with the highest Group 5 loan ratios - 3.4% and 2.25% respectively. BVBank and Saigonbank follow with ratios of 2.17% and 2.14%.

Several banks have managed to keep their Group 5 loan ratios below 1% of total outstanding loans. HDBank reported the lowest at 0.22%, followed by TPBank (0.4%), MB (0.64%), Techcombank (0.65%), Vietcombank (0.73%), VietinBank (0.8%), VPBank (0.92%), and ACB (0.94%).

Under Circular 31 and Decree 86, credit institutions must categorize loans and financial assets for risk provisioning. These cover loans, financial leasing, discounted or rediscounted negotiable instruments, factoring, credit card financing, and off-balance sheet commitments.

Debt classification is divided into five risk levels: Standard (Group 1), Watchlist (Group 2), Substandard (Group 3), Doubtful (Group 4), and Capital Loss (Group 5).

Specific provisioning rates are applied accordingly: 0% for Group 1, 5% for Group 2, 20% for Group 3, 50% for Group 4, and 100% for Group 5.

Tuan Nguyen