Vietcombank will trim lending rates by 0.5% per year for short-term loans in five prioritised sectors, high-tech agriculture, and start-ups.
The rate reduction will be applied for both current and new borrowers at Vietcombank from August 1 to December 31, 2019.
This is the second time that the bank has decreased its lending interest rates since early this year. New lending rates for prioritised sectors will be cut to 5.5% per year, down 1% compared to the rates at the beginning of this year.
The lending interest rate reduction aims to facilitate production and business activities and promote economic development.
Besides Vietcombank, three State-owned commercial banks, namely Vietinbank, BIDV and Agribank, also announced rate cuts from August 1.
BIDV will decrease lending rates to 5.5% per year for prioritised sectors including export goods, support industries, and high-tech enterprises.
Micro, small and medium sized enterprises are also being offered preferential loan packages with lowered lending rates from August 1 to the end of this year.
Several joint stock commercial banks such as ACB and Techcombank also decided to cut lending rates in addition to providing preferential loan packages for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Experts said that the lending rate reduction being conducted by large banks will create a wave of rate decrease in other banks, which is a good signal for enterprises. The move also shows the support of banks for the business community as commercials banks have reviewed their operations in the first half of the year with positive results.
