Credit growth for Vietnam's banks could accelerate to 16.5 percent this year, beating a government target and quickening from a rise of 14.16 percent in 2014, a central banker said on Tuesday.

The new projection comes after banks posted credit growth of 10.23 percent in the first eight months of the year versus the end of 2014, nearly doubling the pace seen a year ago, said Nguyen Tien Dong, a director at the State Bank of Vietnam.

The January-August credit growth figure compared with an expansion of 5.62 percent in the same period a year ago, Dong told a business forum in Hanoi, confirming earlier state media reports.

In July, the central bank agreed to lift the 2015 credit growth target ceiling for some major lenders in a bid to boost economic growth and help stabilise the money market.

The annual target for 2015 was initially set at 13-15 percent, with a view toward expansion to 17 percent if necessary.