HANOI, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's private commercial banks have been lifting their deposit rates this month to attract capital and notably, some of them have increased their rates more than twice, Vietnam News Agency reported Monday.
From the beginning of this month, more than 20 commercial banks have increased deposit rates, of which nine raised rates more than once, said the report.
Banks started to raise rates at the end of March and the trend has continued in recent months. However, the banks which raise rates are mainly private commercial banks, while the big state-owned four banks are still keeping their deposit at record lows.
The agency cited experts as saying that deposits at banks increased in the context that other investment channels are considered to be unpredictable, unstable and have low profit prospects.
Deposits at Vietnamese credit institutions rose by 2.2 percent to reach an estimated 6.7 quadrillion Vietnamese dong (263.2 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of March, although at the time, deposit rates were, for most terms, at record lows, according to the State Bank of Vietnam. ■
