Staff at an ACB office in the southern province of Binh Phuoc. – Photo baobinhphuoc.com.vn

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) should develop policies for commercial banks, helping them disburse capital mobilised from organisations and people, said economic expert Nguyen Minh Phong.

Phong made the statement as commercial banks face an imbalance between mobilised capital and loans.

According to a SBV report, Viet Nam’s banking system has mobilised nearly VND417.3 trillion in the January-August period. Of the sum, the total amount of money deposited by people was more than VND246 trillion, and the amount of deposits from economic organisations was nearly VND171.3 trillion.

The report showed that the banking system has just disbursed VND346.6 trillion, equivalent to VND1.4 trillion per day – the lowest growth rate in the past five years. The direct reason was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hut businesses, forcing them to curtail production or close down.

The banks currently have an excess of liquidity, so the mobilised money is increasing, rising above the loan amount.

Insiders said that the phenomenon of idle money flowing into banks despite low-interest rates was partly due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some other investment channels, such as gold, securities, real estate, and foreign currencies are no longer attractive.

There are many enterprises that are "capital hungry" – in need of capital for investment, production and business – however it is difficult to access loans from banks due to strict procedures and regulations.

The central bank's policy is to not lend carelessly. All lending criteria must be very cautious because many businesses are currently weak and have high economic risks. Therefore, banks must consider carefully before lending money to avoid bad debts.

According to Phong, this is a tough problem to solve because it is related to conflicts of interest. If for common interest, the banks try to disburse as much as possible, paying attention to key and large-scale areas. But on the contrary, if lending is "easy", it will affect the benefits of the banks, especially debt collection as well as the bank's profit.

Phong said that this problem requires direction from the SBV.

“At present, banks still have to continue seeking good customers and safe lending opportunities as well as new loan opportunities associated with post-COVID-19 economic development. On the other hand, they need a flexible lending policy, consistent with the current situation,” Phong said.

Phong said for businesses facing many difficulties but still needing money, the central bank needs to adjust policies in accordance with the current situation so that commercial banks can lend with peace of mind.

“For example, the SBV can restructure public debt, reduce the reserve level or other policies to create incentives and cut costs for commercial banks,” Phong said. – VNS