By Thuy Trieu – The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – The central bank on Tuesday issued a circular scrapping the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) regulation that was set at 80% in previous circulars in 2010, a move seen by experts as signaling the bank’s loosening its credit policy.
The new circular, coded 22/2011/TT-NHNN, was issued to regulate security credit ratios at credit institutions. Under Circular 22, as the new document is referred to, the ratio of 80% regulated in circulars 13 and 19 will no longer apply from September 1, and small banks are allowed to borrow from other credit institutions to lend their clients.
Recently, the inter-bank interest rate has fallen to 12-15%. If the capital mobilized from the inter-bank market is used for lending, the average capital cost will be pulled down, paving the way for banks to lower the lending rate.
Hoang Van Toan, chairman of Dai Tin bank, said the elimination of this loan-to-deposit ratio would help create a link between capital markets, namely the inter-bank market and the public mobilization market.
Besides, given the total means of payment contained at a low level, the central bank’s solution will enhance currency circulation, ease the liquidity shortage and reduce costs for credit institutions, thus helping banks cut interest rates.
An analyst from Hochiminh Securities Joint Stock Company (HSC) said this movement is aimed to increase the amount of mobilized capital for lending and thus restrain banks from raising interest rates to attract deposits.
So far, smaller banks have relied heavily on mobilization from the public as they find it tough to access capital via open market operations. These small banks are considered the cause to push deposit rates higher than bond and inter-bank interest rates.
According to Vietstock, a financial information provider, this new solution is the central bank’s signal to loosen its credit policy, along with many measures to restrict foreign currency credit growth and strengthen that of the local currency in the rest of the year.
Whether lending rates will be reduced to a range of 17-19% over the next few months depends on the market reaction. However, HSC noted that the solvency ratios in Circulars 13 and 19 are still left unchanged.
These ratios play a more important role than the ratio of loan to deposit in restricting the amount of deposit money available for lending. Then smaller banks can access loans in the inter-bank market where rates are lower but within a credit limit.
However, the central bank’s removal of the loan-to-deposit ratio would address the need to reduce interest rates as quickly as possible and preserve the stability of the currency market, said HSC.
Still, the central bank did not mention the capital adequacy ratios for stock and real estate loans, which were forced up to 250% under the old circulars to restrict lending for these sectors. According to Vietstock, the State Bank of Vietnam still wants to pour more credits into the production sector rather than non-production areas.
- Australia central bank ready to act on 'unprecedented' coronavirus challenge
- Hungarian central bank off the hook to hike rates as growth risks rise
- Taiwan central bank seen cutting rates as pandemic hits growth: Reuters poll
- Global central banks take sweeping action to fight coronavirus
- South Korea central bank takes policy rate below 1% for first time with 50bp cut
- India’s central bank surprises with cut in key lending rate
- Global central banks pull out all stops as coronavirus paralyzes economies
- Forex swap spreads tighten after central banks take coordinated action
- Hong Kong central bank cuts rates, bank capital buffer requirements
- Central banks flash the cash as market panic drives liquidity squeeze
- Bank of England teams up with central banks in Canada, Japan, Europe, the US and Switzerland in extraordinary co-ordinated global response to coronavirus crisis
- Fed opens dollar swap lines for nine additional foreign central banks
- UPDATE 3-Turkish central bank moves early with 100-basis-point rate cut
- UPDATE 3-Gulf central banks cut rates as region's coronavirus cases near 1,000
- Australia central bank buys $2.9 billion of bonds in first round of unlimited QE
- Central bank cuts key interest rates to cushion pandemic impact
- Analyst View: Fed opens central bank swap lines to stave off coronavirus slump
- ANALYSIS-Hungarian central bank off the hook to hike rates as growth risks rise
- RPT-ANALYSIS-Hungarian central bank off the hook to hike rates as growth risks rise
- Financial crisis: action taken by central banks and governments
Central bank signals loosened credit stance have 713 words, post on at October 25, 2016. This is cached page on Talk Vietnam. If you want remove this page, please contact us.