Banks step up bad debt resolution

Jul 1st at 10:10
01-07-2020 10:10:52+07:00

Banks step up bad debt resolution

Some banks are speeding up the recovery of non-performing loans (NPLs) this year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBank) said the bank aimed to reach VND1.3 trillion (US$56.52 million) in pre-tax profit and clear all bad debt kept at Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) this year. It also expected to increase the provision for risky loans this year by 69 per cent against 2019 to some VND837 billion, tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn reported.

Under a State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) policy, the SBV-controlled VAMC agreed to buy bad debts of commercial banks and recover the debts to reduce the bad debt ratio of the entire banking system in 2015. At that time, many banks had to sell bad debts to VAMC so they could take the debts off their balance sheet to have a bad debt ratio of below 3 per cent as required by the central bank.

After buying the bad debts, the VAMC tried to recover the debt, but some debts haven't been settled to date. Banks, therefore, would have to receive the debts from the VAMC in 2020, according to the SBV's policy.

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) general director Nguyen Duc Thach Diem said that Sacombank still had NPLs worth more than VND25 trillion at the VAMC, so the bank was trying to handle and recover all the debts.

Diem said Sacombank aimed to handle VND11 trillion of bad debts this year. As the bank successfully auctioned VND9.7 trillion of debt in the first five months of this year, it expected to meet the target by the end of this year.

However, Sacombank’s representative said the pandemic had hampered the bank’s handling of bad debts.

At Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank), the bank’s bad debt ratio was at 1.62 per cent by the end of 2019 and it is speeding up the settlement of bad debts to soon clear all its bad debts kept at the VAMC.

Eximbank still held VAMC’s special bonds worth about VND3.2 trillion by the end of 2019. With a provision of nearly VND2.1 trillion for the bonds to date, the bank will need an addition of VND1.1 trillion to clear all debts at the VAMC.

Though Eximbank planned to settle all the debts kept at the VAMC this year, the target might be affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report on impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic released recently, financial database platform FiinPro estimated the ratio of new bad debt arisen in the first quarter this year of 18 banks listed on stock exchanges was 0.23 per cent, increasing from the previous seven quarters and equivalent to the rate of the first quarter of 2018.

By the end of the first quarter this year, the bad debt ratio of the banks was 1.65 per cent, up 1.44 per cent compared to the end of 2019. However, the rise didn’t reflect all the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as the central bank in Q1 issued new regulations on allowing commercial banks to restructure the debts of pandemic-affected borrowers. 

bizhub



RELATED STOCK CODE (1)

NEWS SAME CATEGORY

HCM City seeks faster switch to cashless payment

Nguyen Anh Duc, general director of Saigon Co.op, said the rate of cashless payment at its system, including Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food, and Co.op Smile, has...

Government tax cuts to ease burden on businesses

The Vietnamese government is rolling out several tax relief measures to support cash-strapped businesses, particularly local and foreign enterprises, the aviation...

Vietcombank to maintain lending standards

Viet Nam’s largest bank Vietcombank will not lower lending standards in the post-pandemic stage to keep capital healthy in 2020, chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh has said.

Business bemoans support conditions

Amid numerous difficulties, slow-paced implementation of government-led policies to assist enterprises hit by the health crisis are leaving many businesses in the...

Interest expense deduction limit raised to 30 per cent

The interest expense deduction limit was raised to 30 per cent from 20 per cent to support businesses, according to the Government’s Decree No 68/2020/ND-CP, which...

How will mobile money affect e-wallets?

Non-cash payment activities have developed strongly in recent years with many payment services such as digital banks and e-wallets.

ASEAN needs to collaborate for better tax policy: report

 ASEAN and all member states must collaborate to establish a better tax policy system to build sustainability and resilience across the region, found a report...

Reference exchange rate up 2 VND

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,230 VND per USD on June 25, up 2 VND from the previous day.

Banks’ support desired for mobile payments

New approaches, especially regarding activities of banks, are required to boost the reach of mobile money agents and expand financial inclusion in Vietnam.

Authorities get to grips with new bad debt mountain

A spike in the amount of bad loans sitting in banks’ books has triggered Vietnamese authorities to seek new paths to recovery, with the upcoming bad debt exchange...

Bank stocks

Insurance stocks


MOST READ


Back To Top