Vietnamese Banks Diverge on May Lending Rates as Majority Hike Borrowing Costs

Vietnam’s banking sector showed a significant divergence in lending rate strategies in May, with a majority of reporting institutions increasing borrowing costs while a smaller group implemented notable reductions, according to data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) released on June 21.

Of the 20 banks that had disclosed their figures, 14 raised their average lending rates, while six lowered them, reflecting varied funding costs and strategic priorities across the industry.

GPBank led the reductions, slashing its average lending rate by 1.63 percentage points from April to 8.84% per year. TPBank followed with a significant cut of 1.01 percentage points, bringing its rate to 9.93%. Other lenders reducing costs included MBV and VIB, which both lowered their average rates by 0.55 percentage points to 8.86% and 8.58%, respectively. BVBank trimmed its rate by 0.34 percentage points to 10.51%, and Bac A Bank made a modest reduction of 0.16 percentage points to 10.25%.

Conversely, 14 other banks implemented rate hikes ranging from 0.02 to 0.7 percentage points. This group included major commercial lenders such as VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank, Techcombank, and MB. As of June 21, several institutions had not yet published their May data, most notably Vietcombank, one of the country's largest state-controlled banks. Other non-reporting banks included HDBank, Nam A Bank, ABBank, Viet A Bank, KienlongBank, VCBNeo, and PGBank.

Banks noted that the published average lending rates apply to newly disbursed loans during the reporting period. Actual borrowing costs for individual customers can vary based on factors such as creditworthiness, financial capacity, and the quality of collateral provided.

Broader market data from the SBV's May 2026 report provides additional context. Average deposit rates in Vietnamese đồng at commercial banks were 0.1-0.2% per year for demand and short-term deposits of less than one month. Rates stood at 4.1-4.6% for one- to six-month terms, 5.9-7.4% for six- to 12-month terms, 5.7-7.1% for terms over 12 months to 24 months, and 7.1-7.6% for maturities exceeding 24 months. The average lending rate for both new and outstanding loans ranged from 8-10.1% per year. For priority sectors, the average short-term lending rate was approximately 3.9%, remaining below the SBV's regulatory ceiling of 4%.