Some commercial banks have increased interest rates on Vietnamese dong (VND) deposits between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent per year, making it the fourth rise since August this year. Viet Capital Bank on October 21 announced a 0.2 percent rise in the rate for numerous term deposits, lifting 7 and 8 month deposits to 6.5 and 6.6 percent per year, respectively. The rates for 11 and 12 month deposits have also been adjusted up to 6.8 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. Previously, Lien Viet Post Bank also inched up the rate for 13 month deposits by 0.2 percent, to 7.5 percent. Dong A Bank also announced a raise in the VND deposit rate by 0.4 percent, mainly in 1 and 2 month terms from 4.6 percent to 5 percent. Some other commercial banks such as Sacombank and Eximbank also listed the rate for 13 month deposits between 7.5 percent and 7.55 percent per year. With the fourth rise, the VND deposit interest rate offered by commercial banks has increased by nearly 1 percent since August this year. Commercial banks expected that the rise would help them attract more deposits, especially medium- and long-term deposits, to balance their capital source and meet medium- and long-term lending demands. According to Deputy General Director of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), Nguyen Thanh Toai, most of the capital sources of commercial banks are currently short-term so that this rise can help the banks increase their medium- and long-term deposits. Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that keeping the VND now had more advantages than other investment channels thanks to the low inflation, rising VND deposit interest rates and low USD deposit rates while the central bank pledged to keep the exchange rate steady this year and even in the first few months next year. Banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu also said that the VND deposit rate hike could help capital sources of commercial banks stabilise as depositors would not withdraw their deposits and turn to other investment channels such as gold, securities and real estate, which currently remained relatively risky. ACB's Toai forecast that VND deposits at commercial banks would remain stable as other investment channels were currently still not so attractive. Savings at banks remained a suitable investment channel for those with idle money who do not prefer to invest, Toai said. According to Nguyen Hoang Minh, total capital mobilisation of HCM City-based commercial banks by the end of September was optimistic with a rise of 11 percent against the same period last year. The central bank's statistics also showed that capital mobilisation of the entire banking system by the end of September also increased roughly by 9 percent year-on-year.-VNA