The Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) plans to purchase VND10 trillion of non-performing loans (NPLs) from credit organisations in the first quarter of 2014 in an effort to avert a debt default.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, deputy head of the Management Board of VAMC, unveiled the figure at a press briefing of the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi on February 28.
Hung said VAMC will establish a body to classify and evaluate NPLs and offer businesses acceptable interest rates – a move to speed up the purchase of NPLs and make the banking system healthier.
VAMC had purchased nearly VND40 trillion of NPLs in the form of special bonds from 35 credit organisations between October and December 2013. Many credit organisations have sent requests, asking VAMC to buy additional NPLs.
At the press briefing, Nguyen Thi Hong, head of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Department, quoted commercial bank statistics, saying the interest rates for 1-2 month deposits decreased by 0.3-0.5% in February, while the rates for longer term deposits remained steady.
This means credit organisations and their clients have reached an agreement on the deposit interest rate in line with the market law of supply and demand, Hong said.
“When the liquidity of the banking system is improved and the macroeconomy is stabilised, the central bank will abolish the deposit interest ceiling,” she told reporters.
