The ceiling set on deposit interest rates will be lowered to 9 percent starting next Monday, June 11, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh said at a National Assembly meeting Thursday.

A man is pointing at the updated interest rate board of BIDV, with the deposit rate set at 12 percent a year, Photo: Lao Dong

This is a 2 percentage point cut, as the rate currently stands at 11 percent a year for deposits of a 1-month term and above, and 3 percent for those of below 1 month.

While not elaborating on what deposit terms will be subject to the new cap, Binh said ,however, that the 9 percent rate can be applied for savings with terms from 1 month and above.

This means the maximum interest rate depositors can enjoy from savings of below a 1 month term is likely to be only 1 percent a year, VnExpress reported.

The governor said the cut is being made in a bid for lending rates to be reduced accordingly.

The State Bank of Vietnam, or the country’s central bank, has lowered the deposit rate cap three times so far this year.

The first cut was on March 13, when the rate was lowered from 14 percent to 13 percent. The next two reductions fell on April 11 and May 26, with rates slashed by 1 percentage point each.

Earlier the central bank governor also insisted that the ceiling would be lowered to around 10 percent in 2012, signaling that there is not likely to be any rate cut in the remaining months of the year.

As of May 8, the central bank also officially stipulated that the lending rate cap for four preferential sectors should not be more than 3 percentage points higher than the deposit cap.

The beneficiaries include small- and medium-sized enterprises, and businesses operating in the supporting industry, exporting, and agriculture sectors.

With the deposit ceiling rate now dropped to 9 percent, the maximum lending rate for the said sectors is likely to fall to 12 percent as of this Monday.

Some commercial banks have recently demanded an extension of beneficiaries for the preferential lending rates by adding securities and real-estate sectors to the list.

But SBV has yet to produce the final conclusion.

Lending rates for realty and consumer loans at banks currently remain high at 17 – 19 percent a year.

Source: tuoitrenews