Spreading low-cost capital, Agribank creates new momentum for growth

Agribank adjusts lending interest rates downward, spreading low-cost capital and creating momentum for rapid, sustainable socio-economic growth. (Source: Agribank)

Flexible and decisive interest rate adjustments

In the context of accelerating economic growth to achieve the development goals of 2026 and the subsequent period, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) remains steadfast in its proactive, flexible monetary policy management. The goal is to maintain macroeconomic stability, control inflation, and create favourable conditions for production and business activities.

At the meeting on the afternoon of April 9, under the SBV's management orientation, commercial banks reached a high consensus on reducing deposit interest rates. This is seen as a solution to create space to reduce loan capital costs while expanding credit access for businesses and citizens.

Immediately following the SBV's directive, Agribank proactively reduced its deposit interest rates by 0.5% per annum for terms of 24 months or more and continues to adjust rates for other terms. Reducing input capital costs is a crucial foundation for the bank to fulfil its commitment to supporting borrowers.

Along with adjusting deposit interest rates, Agribank's medium and long-term lending rates also automatically decreased by 0.5% per annum. This adjustment is widely applied, helping businesses reduce financial cost pressures, especially in large investment projects with long capital recovery periods. This demonstrates Agribank's flexibility and decisiveness in monetary policy management at the grassroots level, closely following market developments and SBV directives.

Ms Phung Thi Binh, Deputy General Director of Agribank, stated that, in line with the SBV's directive to stabilise and reduce interest rates, Agribank has restructured its capital sources, increasing the proportion of non-term deposits and low-cost capital. The bank reduced deposit interest rates across various terms and, correspondingly, reduced lending rates for outstanding loans due for adjustment.

“Agribank maintains low lending interest rates while continuing to implement preferential credit programs under the Government's orientation, focusing on agriculture, rural areas, and small and medium enterprises.

As of March 31, Agribank's total outstanding loans reached approximately 2 trillion VND, with 64% allocated to agriculture and rural areas; credit in the first quarter increased by 1.8%. The bank also tightly controls risk areas and intensifies customer support,” Ms Phung Thi Binh added.

Creating momentum for rapid, sustainable economic development

As shared by Agribank Deputy General Director Phung Thi Binh, despite reducing lending interest rates, Agribank continues to maintain preferential credit programs for priority sectors. Loan packages for agriculture, rural areas, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and green projects continue to be implemented with distinct mechanisms. Agribank has been focusing on key economic regions and export processing industrial zones, enhancing the added value of Vietnamese agricultural products on the global map.

With its strong network, Agribank has supported the development of industrial zones, export processing zones, and, especially, large-scale agricultural projects. Agribank is actively funding major corporations and supply chains in the Mekong Delta, focusing on rice and seafood from production, processing and export.

In particular, Agribank emphasises providing green, sustainable capital, supporting businesses and farmers in building concentrated raw-material areas, enhancing added value and helping transform the rural landscape from small-scale production to industrial-scale, exemplified by the project "Sustainable Development of One Million Hectares of High-Quality Low-Emission Rice in the Mekong Delta".

Preferential credit programs for large-scale agricultural projects and green projects continue to be implemented with distinct mechanisms. (Source: Agribank)

The reduction in bank lending interest rates directly impacts the "health" of businesses and production households, indirectly creating growth momentum for the economy. With reduced capital costs, businesses and production households bear a lower financial burden, thereby reducing production costs.

Low lending interest rates also encourage economic entities to boldly borrow capital to expand production scale and innovate technology. These are the core factors that reduce product costs and increase market competitiveness.

Especially in the strong lending area of the agricultural sector, Agribank's interest rate reduction will help farmers and cooperatives access capital more easily, preventing disruptions to production and business activities due to capital shortages and ensuring food security and agricultural exports.

By the end of 2025, Agribank's total green credit outstanding reached approximately 750 trillion VND, pioneering green credit for key, environmentally friendly energy projects such as wind power in the Central region and solar power in the Central Highlands.

Additionally, Agribank prioritises expanding credit for infrastructure investment in electricity, transportation, and strategic technology sectors, which are crucial foundations to support Vietnamese businesses in enhancing operational capacity, increasing production and business efficiency, and flexibly adapting to new technology trends.

Participating in funding a series of critical infrastructure and transportation projects, such as Ring Road 4 - Hanoi Capital Region - one of the most important transportation infrastructure projects today; the North-South Expressway project; ring roads and port terminals… with tens of billions of VND disbursed, has helped investors and construction units ensure project implementation progress, accelerating the connectivity of key economic regions.

Affirming position and community responsibility

The simultaneous reduction of deposit interest rates by commercial banks and Agribank's pioneering reduction of lending rates immediately following the SBV's directive sends a strong message: The banking sector is willing to share profits, reduce input capital costs to create room for reducing output interest rates, accompanying the economy in a phase that requires "boosts" for breakthrough and sustainable growth.

With its large scale, Agribank's move forces other commercial banks to adjust accordingly to retain customers, creating a new, more "breathable" interest rate level for the entire society. Along with implementing interest rate and credit solutions under the SBV's management orientation, Agribank not only contributes to stabilising the monetary market but also actively unblocks resources, directly providing low-cost capital to support production and business activities, thereby creating momentum and a foundation for rapid, sustainable economic growth.

Agribank's capital has flowed into many key infrastructure and energy projects, supporting Vietnamese businesses in enhancing operational capacity, increasing production and business efficiency, contributing to economic growth and realising national development goals in the new era. (Source: Agribank)

Agribank's proactive interest rate reduction has been highly appreciated by experts and the business community. In a period of strong digital transformation and latent inflation pressures, a major bank like Agribank, which has been a pioneer in interest rate reductions, has a market-leading impact, helping keep overall interest rates reasonable. Besides adjusting interest rates, Agribank also intensifies administrative procedure reforms and applies digital technology to the appraisal process to ensure that capital reaches borrowers quickly and transparently.

With its extensive network and strong financial capacity, Agribank's continued "support" for the economy through flexible interest rate policies once again affirms its pivotal position in the Vietnamese banking system.

Agribank's interest rate reduction is like a "rain shower after a heatwave", a crucial lever for businesses to quickly regain growth momentum, contributing to realising the socio-economic growth targets for 2026 and the major goals in the nation's era of rise.

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