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Prime Minister Le Minh Hung chaired a meeting with the State Bank of Vietnam on the banking system’s performance in the first months of 2026 and the direction and key tasks for the near future. Following the meeting, the Prime Minister praised the State Bank and the entire banking sector for their determination, efforts, and important results achieved recently, citing flexible and timely policy responses that contributed meaningfully to the country’s overall results.
Addressing complex and unpredictable global and regional developments, the Prime Minister said the country needs to shift thinking and operating methods—from management toward creating development—and to use appropriate tools to maintain a stable environment. He reaffirmed the target of two-digit growth on the foundation of macroeconomic stability, maintaining inflation control and ensuring the safety of credit institutions, emphasizing: “macroeconomic stability is the foundation; we must shore it up before adding floors, renovating, or building anew.”
Government leadership stressed the need to ensure safe operation of banking activities and payments, prevent and manage risks, strengthen remote monitoring and on-site inspection, and improve cybersecurity and payments system security.
The Prime Minister requested continued thorough implementation of the Party Central Committee’s resolutions and conclusions, the Politburo’s, the National Assembly’s directives, and the guidance of General Secretary and President To Lam, along with directives of the Government and the Prime Minister.
He directed the State Bank to coordinate with ministries and agencies to build annual and quarterly operating scenarios, including proposed methods, concrete scenarios, and policy instruments with appropriate dosage and timing to achieve the stated objectives.
The Prime Minister called for flexible management of credit growth in line with actual conditions, and for improving the effectiveness and quality of credit through a reasonable credit structure. He directed credit flows toward production and business, priority sectors, and growth drivers.
He also asked agencies to carefully assess and monitor lending to potentially risky sectors, including investigating classifications of real estate types to set appropriate lending limits. The Prime Minister further requested support for the development of social housing and industrial zones.
The Governor of the State Bank, Pham Duc An, reported at the meeting. The Prime Minister also urged strict implementation of General Secretary To Lam’s instructions on gold market management, with a roadmap aligned with actual conditions.
“Gold is a commodity, a citizen’s asset they have the right to hold, but the State does not encourage it because it does not create value-added for the economy, so we must limit hoarding and speculative sentiment to the maximum,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that if macroeconomic foundations are solid, the legal system is open and transparent, and policy is predictable, people and businesses will have greater confidence and reduce holdings of such assets, at least increasing deposits with the banking system.
The Prime Minister directed the State Bank to focus on solutions to improve the quality of bank operations, including summarizing and evaluating the results of the restructuring plan for the system of credit institutions linked to handling bad debts.
He also requested that the State Bank urgently develop a plan to modernize the banking system, address weak credit institutions, and increase access to capital for enterprises—especially small and medium-sized enterprises—by the end of the second quarter of 2026.
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