At the meeting, Pham Chi Quang, Director General of the Monetary Policy Department, said that in the first three months of the year, the State Bank had conducted monetary policy in a proactive and flexible manner, contributing to macroeconomic stability, inflation control, and the promotion of economic growth.
At the same time, the State Bank managed the exchange rate and the foreign exchange market in line with market conditions, absorbing external shocks; it also coordinated policy tools in a synchronised manner and conducted foreign currency sales interventions to stabilise the forex market, support macroeconomic stability, and curb inflation.
In addition, the State Bank steered credit growth in line with directives from the Government and the Prime Minister, assigning a credit growth target of around 15% for credit institutions to implement. It also required lenders to strictly control credit expansion in potentially risky sectors, particularly real estate, while directing credit flows towards production and business activities, priority sectors, and growth drivers, in line with risk management capacity, limiting the rise in non-performing loans and ensuring operational safety.
Furthermore, the State Bank has maintained its key policy interest rates unchanged, enabling credit institutions to access low-cost funding from the central bank to support the economy.
At the meeting, commercial banks expressed strong consensus in implementing the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s directives, as well as those of the State Bank, to strive to lower market interest rates in support of businesses and the public. Accordingly, commercial banks pledged to jointly reduce both deposit and lending rates following the meeting.
In the coming period, the State Bank will continue to closely monitor developments in deposit and lending rates, as well as the disclosure of lending rates on banks’ official websites. It will adopt appropriate monetary policy measures, stand ready to provide liquidity support to commercial banks, and step up inspections, examinations, and supervision of banks’ compliance with directives from the Government, the Prime Minister, and the State Bank regarding interest rates. Violations in capital mobilisation and lending activities will be dealt with strictly.
