HCM City banks’ bad debts fall below 4 per cent

HCM CITY — Non-performing loans of credit institutions in HCM City were worth VNĐ60 trillion (US$2.64 billion) at the end of September, figures from the State bank of Việt Nam show.

They account for 3.9 per cent of outstanding loans, down from 4.04 per cent last December.

If the bad debts of three lenders – Việt Nam Construction Bank, OceanBank and GPBank -- acquired by the central bank in 2015 are excluded, the figure goes down to 2 per cent.

Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, deputy director of the SBV’s HCM City office, said despite many measures banks have taken, like selling bad loans to the Việt Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) and selling mortgaged assets, they still face challenges.

Selling mortgaged assets is not an easy task since it entails lengthy legal procedures, even taking three to five years in some cases, he said.

Resolution 42 adopted by the National Assembly, which took effect on August 15, has improved things by allowing banks to appropriate collateral. — VNS