BIDV and ACB Cut Lending Rates 1.5-2 Points as BIDV Launches VND100 Trillion Package

Overview

BIDV (ticker BID, HOSE) has committed to a VND100 trillion credit package with lending rates cut by 1.5-2 percentage points per year, a move its chairman said would cost the bank roughly VND500 billion in reduced income. ACB (ticker ACB, HOSE) is applying a new lending rate sheet effective 20-10 with comparable 1.5-2 point reductions, as Vietnamese commercial banks respond to Government and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) pressure to lower borrowing costs for businesses.

Key Facts

• BIDV package size: approximately VND100 trillion, with loan tenors of up to 6 months, targeted at production and priority sectors.
• BIDV lending rate reduction: 1.5-2 percentage points per year, bringing quoted lending rates to 6-7% per year depending on tenor.
• BIDV estimated income forgone: about VND500 billion to support businesses and households.
• ACB new lending rate sheet effective 20-10, with business lending rates cut 1.5-2 percentage points per year.
• ACB has disbursed about VND5,000 billion under a separate 1 percentage point rate-support programme.
• SBV is reportedly considering cutting credit growth quotas for banks that do not reduce lending rates.
• Đào Minh Tú, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Banks Association, said the current rate level remains high relative to the economy’s requirements.

What Happened

Speaking at an industry event, Đào Minh Tú, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Banks Association, said the overall interest rate level is still high relative to what the economy can absorb, and called on commercial banks to cut lending rates promptly to share the burden with businesses. He described banks and enterprises as having a symbiotic relationship, arguing that supporting borrowers ultimately protects lenders’ own asset quality. He also cautioned that rate cuts cannot rest on administrative orders alone: if funding costs do not follow and liquidity safety is not assured, forced reductions create risk. Longer term, he said, fiscal, monetary and broader macro policies need to be coordinated so that lending rates align with the profit margins of the economy and of individual business types, citing a rough benchmark of 7-8% funding cost against a 10% corporate return.

Lê Ngọc Lâm, Chairman of BIDV’s Board of Directors, committed to immediately deploying the VND100 trillion package with tenors of up to 6 months for production, business and priority sectors, at rates 1.5-2 percentage points lower. He said BIDV would trim operating costs and reduce deposit rates to create room for the lending rate cut, with lending rates of 6-7% per year by tenor, and estimated the package would reduce the bank’s income by about VND500 billion. Từ Tiến Phát, General Director of ACB, said the bank is implementing multiple customer support programmes in line with Government and SBV direction, including a new lending rate sheet effective 20-10 and business lending rates 1.5-2 percentage points lower. He said ACB has disbursed roughly VND5,000 billion under its 1 percentage point rate-support programme, and argued that coordinated rate cuts will improve corporate competitiveness.

Market Context

BID closed at 33,650 on 2026-10-19 and ACB at 20,250, with both HOSE-listed banks trading in a sector where net interest margin compression is the central earnings debate. The rate cuts come as Vietnamese banks balance Government-directed lending support against deposit funding costs and liquidity management, a tension that has weighed on bank valuations through the year. The SBV’s reported willingness to trim credit growth quotas for banks that do not cut rates adds a regulatory dimension to what is otherwise a commercial margin decision.

Strategic Significance

The core issue for long-term holders is whether volume can offset price. BIDV is explicitly trading roughly VND500 billion of income for a VND100 trillion package, implying a thin spread on the new lending but potentially faster credit growth and stronger borrower repayment capacity. The SBV’s quota signal matters more than the headline rate cut: it converts rate reduction from a voluntary gesture into a condition for balance-sheet expansion, which disadvantages banks that resist and rewards early movers such as BIDV and ACB. If deposit rates fall in tandem, as BIDV’s chairman indicated, the net interest margin hit may prove smaller than the gross lending rate reduction suggests.

What to Watch

• BIDV and ACB third-quarter and fourth-quarter net interest margin disclosures, to test whether deposit cost reductions offset lending rate cuts.
• SBV credit growth quota allocations for 2026 and whether non-compliant banks are formally penalised.
• Disbursement progress against BIDV’s VND100 trillion package and ACB’s VND5,000 billion programme.
• SBV policy statements or meeting minutes on the deposit rate floor and liquidity requirements.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings for BID and ACB, as margin pressure may prompt portfolio repositioning.