Credit continued to grow positively in the first nine months of 2024, but the full-year target of 15% is still hard to achieve. New growth drivers have emerged, particularly from small commercial banks. This is a critical concern as balancing growth with asset quality has become more important than ever as the economy’s fundamentals are still fragile due to weak domestic demand. By the end of Q3-2024, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in the banking system stood at around 4.5%. Although the NPL ratio for listed banks has risen sharply compared to previous periods, it remains under control. Recent financial reports show that the Q3-2024 on-balance-sheet NPL ratio for listed banks remained stable at 2.26%, a slight increase from 2.24% in Q2-2024. This modest rise is an indication that restructuring debt repayment schedules and maintaining loan group classifications have paid off and businesses supported by strong credit provision in recent quarters have recovered gradually. Most of the rapid NPL increases in recent times have come from unlisted and small commercial banks. These banks, typically with assets under VND100 trillion, face greater operational challenges compared to state-run banks (e.g., Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV), corporate-focused banks (e.g., Techcombank, MBBank, HDBank), and retail-focused banks […]