Even as more debts sour at lenders in Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Indonesia and also in China, Vietnam's $295 billion banking sector has slashed non-performing loans (NPLs) to 2.9 percent of total loans by September from 17.2 percent in 2012
The Vietnamese dong has risen in value against the U.S. dollar for the first time, bringing the rate of the greenback quoted at commercial banks to lower than the VND22,475 per dollar cap set by the central bank on August 19
VND11 trillion in liquidity has been reserved so that three ailing banks, Ocean Bank, GP.Bank, and Vietnam Construction Bank, can pay depositors as well as lend to businesses as required
When conducting foreign currency transactions with banks, businesses and individuals are required to present papers and documents proving the purpose of the transactions
With about US$40 billion in foreign exchange reserves, the State Bank of Vietnam will intervene in the forex market to shore up the value of the local currency, whether the U.S. Federal Reserve raises interest rates or not
Though the Vietnamese dong has been depreciated by around five percent this year, depositing it in banks is still more profitable than doing so with the U.S. dollar in the long run
The currencies of emerging nations in Asia have especially suffered in recent weeks from market speculation that the US Federal Reserve will lift interest rates this year -- possibly as soon as September
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) would nationalise Global Petro Bank (GP.Bank) because it had exhibited serious risks and management weakness and had failed to find a partner, or devise a feasible reform plan in the past three years
In terms of value, total bad debt as of the end of January was estimated to hit VND139 trillion (US$6.4 billion)
As the State Bank of Vietnam has devalued the Vietnamese dong by another one percent against the greenback, there will be no more room for the SBV to maneuver its foreign exchange policy from now to the end of this year