Hanoi (VNS/VNA) ♈- Leaders of the country’s four largest banks (the Big 4 group) BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank and Agribank have announced their preliminary positive business results for 2024.

BIDV’s chairman Phan Duc Tu estimates that by the end of this year, the bank will increase its total assets to more than 2.6 quadrillion VND, while its outstanding loans will reach nearly 2 quadrillion VND, up about 14% compared to last year. Meanwhile, Vietcombank’s chairman Nguyen Thanh Tung announced that by mid-December, his bank had essentially completed all its targets and plans set for 2024. It is estimated that by the end of this year, the bank’s total assets will reach nearly 2 quadrillion VND, while credit growth will reach 13% to more than 1.4 quadrillion VND and the bad debt ratio will be controlled below one%. At VietinBank, Chairman Tran Minh Binh said that by the end of November, the bank's total assets were estimated to reach more than 2.3 quadrillion VND, up 14.7% compared to 2023. VietinBank has also reported the highest credit growth rate. Its outstanding loans as of December 10 this year increased by 14.8% compared to the beginning of this year, while the bad debt ratio was controlled at 1.1% and the bad debt coverage ratio continued to remain high. During the period, the bank raised a total capital of nearly 1.7 trillion VND, up 11.3%. Agribank’s General Director Pham Toan Vuong expects that by the end of this year, the bank will achieve its highest business results from the past four years. Of which, the bank’s total assets are estimated to increase by 7%, capital sources by more than 6%, outstanding loans by 11%, pre-tax profit by 8% and bad debt ratio to be below 1.6%. According to Vuong, by November 30, Agribank restructured debt repayment terms and kept the debt group unchanged for 7,300 customers, with total outstanding loans of more than 55 trillion VND. In addition, the bank reduced interest rates for loans of 25,000 Typhoon Yagi affected customers amounting to more than 39 trillion VND. To prepare for next year, the bank leaders have put forward a number of solutions to counter any negative financial headwinds. Vietcombank’s Chairman Tung proposed that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) manages monetary policy cautiously, but flexibly to adapt to the changing context. Tung also recommended that the Government should soon issue a policy to allow State-owned banks to increase their charter capital from annual retained earnings. VietinBank's Chairman Binh suggested the SBV study a mechanism allowing banks to set aside a reserve fund for operational risks, including information technology risks. Meanwhile, Vuong of Agribank proposed that the Government and competent authorities have appropriate regulations on handling bad debts and collateral assets of bad debts to support banks in better recovering the debts. He also proposed that the management authorities should consider a separate mechanism to increase charter capital for State-owned banks. Agribank expects to receive at least 10 trillion VND per year from 2025 to meet Basel II standards. The additional capital is sourced from Agribank's annual actual profits./.