More than 20 banks have implemented reductions in their deposit interest rates, with rates for 1-month deposits now reaching as low as 1.7% per year.
As of January 17, a survey conducted by VNExpress across 34 lenders revealed that three prominent state-owned banks in Vietnam – VietinBank, BIDV (Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam), and AGRIBANK – have initiated rate cuts for deposits with durations less than 12 months.
VietinBank and BIDV have decreased rates for these deposits by 0.7 percentage points compared to the end of the previous year. This has resulted in an annual interest rate of 1.7% for 1-month term deposits, 2.2% for 3-month terms, and 3.2% for six- to nine-month terms. Agribank has also lowered its rates by 0.3-0.4 percentage points to 1.8% per year for short-term deposits. Earlier in the month, Vietcombank, another major state-owned bank, reduced its interest rates by 0.2 percentage points for three- to nine-month deposits, and by 0.1 percentage points for 12-month deposits.
Currently, deposits with a term of one to nine months at Vietcombank have an interest rate of 1.7-3% per year, while 12-month deposits earn 4.7% per year. The downward trend in deposit interest rates is not exclusive to state-owned banks, as 20 other private banks have also decreased their deposit rates:
Techcombank, MSB, SeABank, OCB, LPBank, and Oceanbank made some of the most significant adjustments, reducing rates by 0.5-1 percentage points for short-term deposits.
Presently, most banks are offering interest rates of 5-5.7% per year for deposits under VND1 billion with a 12-month term. Approximately 10 banks offer rates below 5% for the same deposit and term, including both state-owned and private banks such as MB, ACB, TPBank, MSB, OCB, Techcombank, SCB, VIB, and ABBank.
Additionally, long-term deposit interest rates at many banks have also decreased by 0.1 to 1.3 percentage points compared to the end of 2023.
Despite the decline in rates, savings deposits by individuals and businesses reached a record high of VND13.5 quadrillion by December 31, 2023, up 14% from 2022.
