HCMC — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has proposed a significant hike in credit ceilings, allowing banks to lend up to 52% of their equity to fund large-scale infrastructure and energy projects in the capital city.
Under a new draft decision following National Assembly Resolution 258/2025/QH15, which pilots special mechanisms and policies for major and important projects in Hanoi, the central bank wants to remove financial bottlenecks for Hanoi’s strategic developments by permitting credit extensions far beyond current legal limits.
The proposal sets a new maximum credit limit of 38% of a bank’s equity for a single customer and 52% for a group of related customers – roughly triple the standard caps of 12% and 19% mandated by the Law on Credit Institutions.
These new credit limits will apply to major projects approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or Hanoi’s local authorities, particularly in priority sectors like transport, energy and urban development.
To balance growth and safety for the system, the draft continues to prioritize syndicated lending, encouraging multiple banks to co-finance high-value projects to distribute risk. Additionally, the SBV plans to streamline administrative procedures, reducing the processing time for credit extension requests to around 27 working days.
