HANOI, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's credit growth rate is forecast to hit 17-18 percent in 2016 as lending usually rises sharply during the final months of the year, according to Dao Minh Tu, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Thursday.
As of Nov. 22, lending of the banking sector had expanded by around 14 percent against December last year, with Vietnamese dong loans rising 15.3 percent and foreign currency loans increasing 2.8 percent, local Vietnam News online newspaper quoted Tu as saying.
The central bank will direct lending capital to flow mainly into the five prioritized sectors of agriculture, exports, supporting industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, and hi-tech firms besides startups, said Tu.
Earlier this year, the SBV targeted an annual credit growth of between 18 and 20 percent, up from 17.26 percent in 2015. However, it affirmed that the credit growth rate might be adjusted based on the actual situation, as it happened last year.
In 2015, the country's central bank first targeted a credit growth rate of 13 percent, then adjusted it to between 15 and 18 percent to meet rising capital demand.
