Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s total loans by May 25 grew 6.53 percent fromthe end of 2016, which supported domestic production and business in thecontext of slow public investment disbursement since the beginning of the year.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong made theremark on June 5.

The monetary market remained positive in the first six months of the year andinterest rates have been stabilised thanks to the SBV’s regulation, Hong said.

Credits were continuously prioritized for production and business developmentwhile those for real estate slowed down, she said.

The SBV Governor guided financial institutions to control credit risks andensure capital balance and the banking system’s safety.

As for foreign exchange, the central bank has kept a close eye on fluctuationsof the domestic and foreign markets and launched rational daily referenceexchange rates. The official exchange rates between the Vietnamese Dong and theUS Dollar has surge 1 percent from the outset of this year, Hong said.

The SBV has joined hands with relevant ministries and branches to finalise adraft on bad debt settlement among credit institutions, the highlight of whichis the establishment of a bad debt market. Accordingly, the Vietnam AssetManagement Company (VAMC) is allowed to buy bad debts from banks, recover thedebts through issuance of special bonds as well as sell debts to relevantindividuals and organisations.- VNA