The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has asked commercial banks to submit reports detailing credit access for businesses.

SBValso requested information on the difficulties and outdated regulationsbusinesses encounter when they apply for credit. It said commercialbanks should include suggestions on how to improve credit access andbusiness efficiency.

The SBV has announced credit-growth rates allocated to commercial banks.

UnderDirective No 1, four credit institutes and bank groups have beenallocated credit-growth rates from zero to 17 percent this year, basedon the health of the organisation and their performance last year.

Thosewith well-performing lenders will be classed in groups A and B, andweaker lenders in groups C and D. Group A will receive the highestcredit growth of 17 percent.

They include Vietnam Maritime JointStock Commercial Bank (Maritime Bank), Vietnam Joint Stock CommercialBank For Private Enterprises (VP-Bank), Vietnam International JSCommercial Bank (VIBank); and Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank(Sea-Bank).
Commercial banks listed in Group B will receive acredit-growth quota of 15 percent. They include Nam A Joint StockCommercial Bank (Nam A Bank); and Dai A Joint Stock Bank (DaiAbank).

Afterreceiving the allocated credit-growth quotas, several banks developedspecific lending plans for 2012. Maritime Bank, for example, developed alending plan to control credit activities to ensure the growth rate notexceed 17 percent at any time this year.

VPBank said although ithas been classified by SBV in group A with a credit-growth quota of 17percent, its lending rate for non-production sectors has climbed to 16percent. Thus, the bank does not plan to offer many personal loans.

NamABank will focus its loans on small and medium-sized enterprises, with a lending rate of no more than 10 billion VND.

An expert at the HCM City Banking University said the number of banks in weak groups C and D is considerable.-VNA