Total outstanding loans of credit institutions in HCM City grows 4.14 per cent in the first four months of 2015.— VNS Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Total outstanding loans of credit institutions here grew 4.14 per cent in this year's first four months, with 80 per cent of the lending extended for production and business activities.

The deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's local branch, Nguyen Hoang Minh, told a meeting with municipal National Assembly delegations on May 12 that improved economic growth and business confidence had positively impacted banking operations.

He said investments by enterprises tended to increase, which was evident in the greater proportion and higher growth of medium- to long-term loans compared with short-term credit.

In four months, medium- to long-term loans expanded 7.66 per cent and accounted for 53.5 per cent of all loans, while short-term loans rose by 0.36 per cent and comprised 46.5 per cent of the total loans.

Lending reached some VND655 trillion ($31.19 billion) for prioritised sectors, which include agriculture and the development of rural areas, exports, small and medium-sized enterprises, and high-tech firms and support industries.

Through a special city programme that connects banks and businesses, nearly 1,000 firms obtained loans worth some VND31.28 trillion ($1.49 billion) with short-term interest rates of less than 7 per cent per year.

Minh said medium- to long-term interest rates had fallen by 0.6 to 0.9 percentage points at the end of April, compared with end-2014, supporting enterprises and the economy. The monetary market and exchange rates also showed stable development, he added. — VNS