SBV: All 46 Vietnamese Banks Cut Deposit Rates; MBB, VCB Lending Rates Fall

Overview

On 4 November the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said all 46 commercial banks have reduced listed deposit rates by at least 0.5 percentage points for terms of six months or more, with average new lending rates down 0.2-0.5%/year versus early October. The disclosure matters directly for HOSE-listed lenders MBBank (MBB) and Vietcombank (VCB), both of which outlined preferential credit programs and lower lending rates in the same announcement.

Key Facts

• 46 of 46 commercial banks have cut listed deposit rates by at least 0.5 percentage points for terms of six months or more, per the SBV.
• Average new deposit rates at end-October were about 0.4%/year lower than mid-month.
• Average new lending rates fell roughly 0.2-0.5%/year compared with the start of October.
• More than 20 banks have announced preferential credit programs with rate reductions of 1.5-2%/year.
• MBBank cut lending rates by an average 1.5-2%/year; short-term lending now stands at 8-9%/year and medium-term at 9-10%/year, according to Deputy General Director Lê Quốc Minh.
• Vietcombank’s program, running from 19 October to year-end, offers 1.5-2%/year reductions, reaching up to 3%/year in some segments; nearly 17,000 customers and about VND 100,000 billion of disbursements are covered, per Deputy General Director Bạch Thành Long.
• Agribank has deployed 24 preferential programs totalling VND 600,000 billion, with outstanding balances of about VND 300,000 billion at rates 2-2.5%/year below normal.

What Happened

The SBV said the reduction in listed deposit rates is a precondition for commercial banks to lower lending rates. It attributed the decline to its own liquidity support and funding measures for credit institutions, and said it will take action against institutions that do not comply with the directive to lower the interest-rate floor. The regulator also reiterated flexible exchange-rate management, a focus on directing credit toward production, business and priority sectors, and tighter control of lending to higher-risk areas.

At bank level, MBBank’s Lê Quốc Minh said the lender has cut rates for individual and corporate customers in five priority sectors, applying to both existing and new loans; for existing loans, the bank adjusts automatically at the repricing date without additional customer paperwork. Vietcombank’s Bạch Thành Long said its program runs from 19 October to the end of the year, with reductions of up to 3%/year in segments such as consumer-goods trading and petroleum. Agribank’s Phùng Thị Bình said about VND 200,000 billion of existing loans had been repriced by 31 October, with some cuts reaching 2.5%/year, alongside more than VND 100,000 billion of new lending in production, business and priority sectors at rates 2-2.5 percentage points lower.

Market Context

MBB closed at VND 19,250 on 4 November 2026 on HOSE, while VCB closed at VND 54,800. The announcement lands in a policy environment where the SBV is explicitly pushing the banking system toward a lower nominal rate structure to support credit growth and production. For listed banks, the immediate read-through is margin compression: deposit repricing lags loan repricing, so net interest margins face pressure in the near term even as volumes may rise.

Strategic Significance

The key strategic question is whether lower lending rates stimulate enough credit demand to offset thinner spreads. MBBank’s willingness to reprice existing loans automatically, and Vietcombank’s and Agribank’s large preferential programs, suggest the system is prioritising volume and asset quality over near-term margin. For long-term investors, the differentiator will be funding-cost advantage: banks with strong low-cost deposits and high current-account balances, such as VCB, are better placed to defend margins than those reliant on higher-cost term deposits. The SBV’s threat to act against non-compliant institutions also signals that rate cuts are now a policy directive rather than a purely commercial choice, which reduces the risk of competitive undercutting but caps pricing power across the sector.

What to Watch

• Q4 2026 earnings releases from MBB and VCB, particularly net interest margin and deposit-cost trends.
• SBV monthly credit-growth data for November and December 2026.
• Any SBV enforcement action against institutions that fail to comply with rate-cut directives.
• Further deposit-rate adjustments at joint-stock commercial banks, where the SBV reported cuts of 0.5-0.7%/year.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings for MBB and VCB, given the sector’s sensitivity to policy signals.