Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Banks are ready to seize business opportunities in the comingmonths as the COVID-19 pandemic has been basically controlled in Vietnam anddomestic production and business are expected to accelerate soon.

Expertshave forecast that credit demand will increase faster in the coming months asproduction and business activities in the country return to a normal pace. Therecovery of domestic production is also expected to receive more support whenother countries re-open their economies.

Accordingto data from the State Bank of Vietnam, credit by the end of Aprilincreased by 1.32 percent compared to the end of 2019. After declining in Marchand early April, credit increased again in the last two weeks of April thanksto loan packages with preferential interest rates to support businesses andindividuals affected by COVID-19. By the end of April, credit packagesannounced by banks were worth more than 650 trillion VND (28.26 billion USD).

Accordingto Nguyen Duc Vinh, General Director of the Vietnam Prosperity Joint-StockCommercial Bank (VPBank), his bank built plans for the post-COVID-19 pandemicquite early. Right after the COVID-19 outbreak was controlled and theGovernment eased social distancing, VPBank has launched programmes to boostdomestic business and production. As of May 4, the bank provided new loansworth 18 trillion VND for 13,000 individual and corporate borrowers.

TheVietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has so far thisyear also provided loans worth 481 trillion VND with preferential interestrates.

Arepresentative of a bank, who declined to be named, said after the pandemic,consumers would tend to increase the use of online services andprioritise health care.

Accordingto Nguyen Toan Thang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association,there would be many big changes when the pandemic ends.

Businessand production conditions, operating environment, market structure andproduction methods of firms will change to create better supply and valuechains, which will require banks to adapt to seize business opportunities, Thangsaid.

Bankingexpert Can Van Luc said banks needed to carefully study market recovery trendsafter the pandemic to optimise business opportunities.

Inaddition, Luc suggested banks enhance IT applications and develop newbusiness models based on technology and that suit new tastes of customersto increase labour productivity, cut costs and meet customer's needs./.