Hanoi (VNA)꧟ – Credit growth reached about 13% this year as of December 27, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu told a press conference in Hanoi on tasks for the banking sector next year.

Most of credit were for production and trade, said Deputy Director in charge of the SBV’s Department of Credit for Economic Sectors Ha Thu Giang. As of November 30, total outstanding loans under the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies’ 23 credit programmes stood at over 279 trillion VND (12.1 billion USD), up 12.81% annually with over 6.4 million borrowers. The SBV also closely monitored credit in high-risk areas, especially corporate bonds, securities and real estate markets, while creating favourable conditions for businesses and people to access credit. In order to control inflation, stabilise the macro-economy and ensure the safety of the banking system, the SBV also revised up interest rates twice, Giang said. Tu added that the SBV directed credit organisations to cut operating costs and administrative procedures, creating more room to cut lending interest rates, thus supporting businesses and people to overcome difficulties. In the first 11 months of this year, cashless payments rose by 85.6% in volume of transactions and 31.39% in value, year-on-year. Next year, the SBV will continue to manage credit growth in line with macroeconomic developments, contributing to controlling inflation, supporting economic recovery and growth, and pouring capital into production and trade, especially priority areas. It will also push forward the restructuring of credit organisations in combination with dealing with bad debts for the 2021-2025 period; review legal frameworks and mechanisms to ensure a safe, healthy, transparent and sustainable development of banking and monetary markets; as well as step up digital transformation of banking activities, Tu said./.