Banks usually hike deposit interest rates and even offer promotions at the year end, and this year has been no different. On December 19 Sacombank announced a rise in interest rates on deposits of three months from 5.2-5.3 percent to 5.5 percent, and on deposits of 12 months from 6.9 percent to 7.7 percent. VPBank has increased its rates by 0.1-0.7 percentage points, with deposits of 18 months and more carrying the highest rate of 7.8 percent.
State-owned banks such as BIDV and Vietinbank have hiked rates by 0.1 to 0.5 percentage points.
The management of a joint-stock bank headquartered in the south said lending usually rises in the last quarter of the year to meet the rising demand for short-term credit to serve the working capital needs of companies.
As a result, many banks increase their deposit rates, especially for short terms, it said.
Besides, experts said lenders are running out of time to use 45 percent of short-term capital for medium- and long-term loans, with the ratio to be reduced to 40 percent on January 1.
The National Financial Supervisory Commission has recently estimated that credit growth to have slowed significantly to 15 percent this year from 18 percent in 2017.