HANOI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's bank deposits reached a new record of 13.5 quadrillion Vietnamese dong (554.53 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2023, up 14 percent from the previous year, VnExpress reported on Wednesday, citing the State Bank of Vietnam.
The bank said the statistics represented an increase of 1.7 quadrillion dong (69.7 billion dollars), compared to around 1 quadrillion dong (41 billion dollars) in the last two years.
The surge in deposits was attributed to high bank deposit interest rates of around 9 percent at the beginning of the year.
As the central bank lowered its policy rates, lenders started to gradually bring down their rates and closed the year at under 6 percent, according to the report.
In December 2023, savings interest rates in Vietnam set a record low of only 1.9 percent per year for a one-to-two-month term.
The central bank has set a credit growth target of 15 percent for the domestic banking system in 2024. ■
