Vietnam

Vietnam's financial system is bank-centred and large relative to the economy: deposit takers held VND27,406tn (about US$1.09tn) of assets at end-2025, some 221% of GDP. The four state-controlled banks, BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank and Vietcombank, held VND11,227tn between them, about 41% of the total, and Agribank remains the main lender to agriculture and rural areas. Joint-stock commercial banks led by MB, VPBank, Techcombank and ACB have gained share through retail, SME and corporate lending; MB's total assets rose 43% in 2025 and VPBank's 36%.

Credit growth has outpaced funding. System credit grew 19.01% in 2025, against 13.68% growth in mobilised funds, and customer deposits covered 93.3% of non-interbank loans at end-2025 on IMF Financial Soundness Indicator data. The SBV steers lending through system credit growth targets, set at about 15% for 2026. Banks are raising equity to expand lending capacity: listed lenders plan roughly VND128tn (US$4.93bn) of new capital in 2026 through share issues, stock dividends and retained-earnings capitalisation, led by Techcombank, MB and VPBank.

Profitability is high but capital is modest. Return on equity was 19.9% and return on assets 1.5% in 2025, while the system capital adequacy ratio was 12.1% and the Tier 1 ratio 10.6%. Asset quality depends on the measure used: on the IMF Financial Soundness Indicator basis, non-performing loans were 4.2% of gross loans at end-2025, with provisions covering 67% of them, while banks report lower ratios under SBV loan classification, such as 1.17% at Agribank. Commercial real estate loans made up 11.4% of gross loans.

The main risks are rapid credit expansion relative to capital, real estate exposure and the cost of resolving weak lenders. The SBV transferred CBBank and OceanBank to Vietcombank and MB in October 2024 and GPBank to VPBank in January 2025 under its mandatory-transfer mechanism for so-called zero-dong banks. Banks are implementing Basel III capital requirements, including capital buffers, under Circular 14/2025/TT-NHNN, which will raise capital needs as balance sheets grow. The refinancing rate has been held at 4.50% since June 2023, and the new SBV governor has prioritised lower lending rates.