As of November 17, the country’s credit growth was estimated at 7.26% against the end of 2019, resulting in VND8,790 trillion (US$377.7 billion) in outstanding loans.

Vietnam’s growth is projected to strengthen further to 6.5% as normalization of domestic and foreign economic activity continues, stated the IMF.

The banking sector should be a pioneer in the digital transformation process, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

The ASEAN way against the pandemic is an inspiration for the world to foster global cooperation and build a better world, stated the IMF managing director.

While Vietnam is at risk of being listed as currency manipulator by the US, such a risk appears low, as the US will likely continue to reduce its dependence on Chinese exports by reorganizing its supply chain with other partners.

The price to earnings (P/E) of the benchmark VN-Index is not quite cheap to attract new inflows as it is 15.1x (as of 30 September) versus 14.5x – 15x in the pre-Covid time.

Vietnam’s inflation is set to remain below the government’s 4% threshold for most of the year with its average forecast at 3.5%. This should see the central bank keep lending conditions accommodative into 2021.

By the end of August, the credit growth was estimated at only 4.75%, but rose to 6.1% one month later, indicating improvements in enterprises’ access to credit.

The decrease in short-term deposit rates at commercial banks was mainly driven by the excess liquidity when credit growth was slow at only 5.12% year-on-year as of September 22.