Outstanding credit in the southern business hub approximated VND1.4 quadrillion (US$62.8 billion) during the period, rising by 20.93% from a year earlier.
Production and business activities covered 75% of the outstanding loans. The remainder was provided for real estate, the stock market and consumption, according to the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam.
To Duy Lam, the branch’s Director, said both remittances and credit mostly flowed into production, business and investment activities.
Local credit institutions have continually offered assistance for businesses and facilitated their access to bank loans. Meanwhile, many loan-related support programmes have been provided by the municipal People’s Committee, such as preferential interest rates and debt restructuring, he added.
Many insiders also said that while the credit quality in Ho Chi Minh City is being improved with the declining bad debt rate, the foreign exchange and gold markets remained stable. Those are favourable conditions for local enterprises to expand operations to prepare for the New Year’s holiday.
