On July 9, 2025, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) organized a Mid-year Review Conference to evaluate the performance of the banking sector in the first half, and to disseminate the tasks for the second half of 2025. The Conference was attended by SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and the other members of the SBV’s Board of Management, together with the leaders of the SBV entities, the commercial banks, etc.
Delivering her opening speech at the Conference, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong informed that 2025 is the final year of the 5-year Plan for the 2021-2025 period, an important year to evaluate and summarize the performances in the past term, affirming the big efforts and contributions of the banking sector in the process of national economic development.
According to the SBV Governor, in 2025, the monetary policy management has faced many difficulties and challenges. Specifically, the increasingly complex and unpredictable international developments, the escalating political tensions, the US’s new tariff rates,.. have all impacted the economic, financial and monetary situations in many countries, including Vietnam.
An overview of the Conference
Speaking at the Conference, SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu shared that, overcoming numerous difficulties and challenges over the past time, the SBV has managed the monetary policy and the banking operations in an effective manner, contributing to the efforts to achieve the economic growth target of 8% or higher in 2025 in accordance with the Government's policy.
In addition, the banking sector had urgently and strongly completed the restructuring of the organizational apparatus in accordance with the directions of the Party and Government, while still ensured the system’s safe, stable and smooth operations.
SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu delivers the Mid-Year Review Report on the banking sector’s performance results in the first half of 2025
The SBV has been operating the monetary policy in a proactive and flexible manner, in accordance with the macroeconomic situation, the international and domestic developments, contributing to boosting strongly the economic growth while still maintaining the macroeconomic stability, controlling the inflation, and ensuring the safety of the credit institutions’ system.
Specifically, the SBV has continued to maintain the key interest rates at a low level to help reduce the lending interest rates and support the businesses and the people. The lending interest rates had continued to decrease. As of June 10, 2025, the average lending interest rate for new transactions at the commercial banks was at 6.3% p.a., a decrease of 0.6% as compared to the end of 2024.
Regarding the exchange rate, the SBV has operated the exchange rate in a flexible and effective manner, contributing to absorbing external shocks; in collaboration with other monetary policy tools to reduce the pressures on the exchange rate and the foreign currency market. The exchange rate had moved flexibly, in accordance with the market conditions. In addition, the SBV has implemented synchronous measures to enhance the effectiveness of the management of the gold market.
Regarding the credit management, right in the end of 2024, the SBV had made public notifications about the credit growth targets for the credit institutions in 2025, allowing the credit institutions to take proactive steps in their implementation. The SBV had also made public notifications to the foreign banks, the joint venture banks, the Cooperative Bank and the non-bank credit institutions to proactively control their credit growth rates in 2025. Furthermore, the SBV had continued to implement a roadmap to restrict from and gradually eliminate the assignment of credit growth targets for the credit institutions in the future.
The participants at the Conference
Thanks to the robust and synchronized implementation of those solutions, as of June 30, 2025, the total credit outstanding of the whole banking system had reached over 17,200 trillion VND, an increase of 9.9% against that of the end of 2024, and up by 19.32% as compared to the same period in 2024. This was the highest credit growth rate since 2023.
The SBV has also strongly directed the implementation of the credit programs and policies in accordance with the directions of Government, the Prime Minister, and several of those programs had proved to be very effective.
Other work activities had also been implemented successfully, including the Scheme for the restructuring of the credit institutions’ system in association with the NPL resolution. The SBV had completed the compulsory transfers of 2 poor-performing banks. The inspection and supervision of the credit institutions had always received high attention by the SBV, contributing to ensuring the security and the disciplines in the monetary and banking operations. In addition, the SBV had continued to promote non-cash payments and the digital transformation in the banking sector.
HY