Interest rate cut

The survey notes that the global economy contracted by around 4.5 percent in 2020, the biggest fall in global activity in several decades. Having recovered from lockdown-imposed weakness in the first half of the year, many economies again faced weakness as a second wave of COVID infections triggered renewed lockdowns. The survey envisions a steady recovery this year, but continued uncertainty limits the bounce in consumer and busines confidence, with pre-crisis output not being reached until mid-2022. The survey also indicates that the Global orders, employment and capital investment indices recorded a further modest improvement, but still point to activity well below the pre-crisis level in the fourth quarter of 2019. The “fear” indices which means the concern about customers and suppliers going out of business, edged lower in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 but remain elevated, clearly underlining the extreme uncertainty in the global economic outlook at the start of 2021. At the same time, inflation concerns remain negligible with concern about costs staying close to an all-time low. “Last year was the worst for the global economy for several decades,” said Warner Johnston, Head of ACCA USA. “2021 will see recovery, but precisely when and how strong it will be is very uncertain. We anticipate a weak start, followed by a recovery gathering momentum through the second half. Much depends on the evolution of the COVID virus and variants relative to the progress of vaccination programs, and there is great uncertainty surrounding these developments.” Agreed with this points, Raef Lawson, IMA vice president of research and policy analysed the policy responses to the pandemic that have left public finances of most economies in a perilous state with budget deficits in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent of GDP in many countries with debt to GDP ratios well over 100 percent. In North America, confidence dropped in Q4, having jumped by the most on record in Q3. …

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The results of 2020 business and 2021 outlook support the rise of bank stocks Ending the last session of February, the VN-Index stood at 1,168.47 points, corresponding to an increase of 111.86 points (10.59 per cent) compared to the previous month. The HNX-Index increased by 35.01 points (16.3 per cent) to 249.22 points. The UPCoM-Index also increased 4.56 points (6.33 per cent) to 76.64 points. Large-cap stocks recovered well in February as only the NVL ticker of Novaland decreased by 0.7 per cent. Meanwhile, as many as 14 other stocks in this group increased by over 15 per cent. The shares of VPBank (VPB), rose the most among the top 30 by market capitalisation with over 33 per cent. Following that, Thaiholdings (THD) also increased by 26 per cent and was a key factor helping the HNX-Index continue to break out recently. February was also a good month for banking stocks as, besides VPB, the stocks of Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), Asia Bank (ACB), Techcombank (TCB), or Vietinbank (CTG) also increased by over 20 per cent. Particularly, the last trading week of February recorded a rise in most bank stocks. At the price of VND33,000 ($1.44), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) was the strongest increase with nearly 9 per cent. Military Bank (MBB) led in liquidity with nearly 72.1 million shares. Military Bank shares closed the morning session at VND28,200 ($1.23) a share. Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPB) reached VND40,800 ($1.77) while Techcombank (TCB) reached VND40,200 ($1.75), Vietnam International Bank (VIB) hit VND43,200 ($1.88) a shares, and HCMC Development Bank (HDB) increased to VND26,200 ($1.14) per share. Notably, LienViet Post Bank (LPB) hit the ceiling price on March 1, recording liquidity of over 36 million shares and closing the session of March 2 at VND16,100 (70 US cents) a share. PYN Elite Fund said that the VN-Index can completely increase to 1,800 points in 2022 with favourable macroeconomic factors, including high GDP …

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During his three years as CEO, Dinh Quang Huy has lead SHB Finance to reach several notable achievements Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), the owner of SHB Finance, will appoint a new Board member and CEO in due time. Talking with VIR about the move, Dinh Quang Huy was quite satisfied with what SHB Finance has achieved in his three years at the helm, with the support of the management team and nearly 4,000 employees. The move after almost six years of growing the consumer finance business is part of his professional drive. Before joining SHB Finance, Huy had more than two years as CEO of MB Shinsei Finance Company (Mcredit), from the set-up phase to full scale operation. With a broad range of consumer finance loans for low- to medium-income customers, SHB Finance is regarded as a trusted service provider of basic financial needs for Vietnamese customers. During his three-year in the office, SHB Finance has been progressing with notable achievements such as becoming the first finance company rated by Moody's at a B3 Stable outlook right in its first year of operation; mobilising a considerable amount of unsecured funds from institutional investors, including the prestigious ResponsAbility Investment Fund from Switzerland with strict standards; as well as signing a partnership agreement with Mastercard to issue international credit cards. By the end of 2020, the network of SHB Finance has covered 40 key provinces and cities, serving nearly 700,000 customers. Pre-tax profit was VND70 billion ($3.04 million), with balance at the end of the period being VND3.689 trillion ($160.3 million), with bad debts under tight control and stable business results. SHB Finance provides quick and convenient consumer loans for people with low and middle income Throughout a challenging 2020, SHB Finance has proven its capacity and position when recognised by reputable rating agencies and institutional investors. With a broad …

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