State Bank of Vietnam targets 16% credit growth in 2025 and coordinates VND 500 trillion credit support package for infrastructure and digital projects

At a government conference on digital transformation and growth, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Thi Hong outlined the central bank’s 2025 credit growth orientation, including a system-wide credit growth target of 16% and scope to adjust it if inflation remains under control. She also referenced the Prime Minister’s direction to develop a VND 500 trillion credit package to support lending for enterprises investing in infrastructure and digital technology. SBV reported credit growth of 3.93% by the end of the first quarter versus end-2024, and 18% year-on-year, compared with 1.34% in the same period last year. Work is underway with banks and SBV has sent letters to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to compile lists of key projects for consolidation and follow-on steps. The Governor also linked further banking-sector digital transformation to data ecosystem development, citing the Ministry of Public Security’s population database under Project 06 and the need to build stronger enterprise data, alongside measures to ensure cybersecurity and information safety. On foreign currency lending, SBV has issued a written response to Vietnam Electricity’s request and signalled it will consider foreign currency needs for large priority projects, while balancing the system’s foreign currency funding capacity with exchange rate management and money and foreign exchange market stability. The next steps for the VND 500 trillion package depend on ministries providing project lists for SBV to aggregate and take forward.