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Banks’ 2026 earnings update report from S&I Credit Rating JSC (SNI) highlighted key themes from the banking sector’s annual general meetings and the business plans for the year. Liquidity concerns and rising deposit rates were among the main topics, with funding pressure continuing to constrain the near-term ability to sharply reduce rates.
Although market expectations pointed to deposit rates easing after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor’s meeting with banks in early April 2026, SNI said funding pressures remain. In comments to shareholders at VPBank’s annual meeting, CEO Nguyen Duc Vinh said the spike in banks’ deposit rates in Q1/2026 across tenors was mainly driven by relatively tight liquidity in the market.
He also cited other contributing factors, including high credit growth and newly effective banking governance rules, such as reserve requirement ratios. SNI noted that the high deposit-rate trend is expected to persist for some time, with potential easing in Q2 or early Q3/2026.
At VPBank, deposit rates increased as the bank pursued high credit growth. The bank has recently cut some term deposit rates and is expected to continue adjusting rates depending on market developments.
In an interview with Người Lao Động, Nguyen Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Banking Association (VNBA), said deposit rates are cooling, but a deep cut is unlikely in the current context. He added that banks are competing to attract idle funds from other channels such as gold, securities, and real estate. If deposit rates fall too much, people may not choose to save, and funding growth at banks is rising more slowly than credit growth.
VCBS analysts said the deposit rate level is expected to stay flat and is not likely to rise further, supported by the SBV’s directive to support the economy and ensure macro stability. However, VCBS also warned that funding pressure remains on the system due to growing medium- and long-term capital needs as large-scale infrastructure projects are rolled out.
VCBS noted that credit growth has been higher than deposit growth for a relatively long period, keeping the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) high at many banks. It also pointed to rising exchange-rate pressure amid geopolitical tensions and the US delaying rate cuts, which requires maintaining a reasonable VND-USD spread to stabilize capital flows and the exchange rate.
State Bank data showed that after the 9-4 meeting led by the Governor, 42 banks reduced listed deposit rates by about 0.1–0.5 percentage points per year, mainly for tenors of 6 months or more.
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