CREDIT INSTITUTIONS’ FUTURE BRIGHT
A majority of credit institutions in the country expect an upward trend in their business in the remaining months of the year, after making improvements in the first half of 2018, according to a survey released last week by the State Bank of Vietnam.
TRAFFIC CONGESTION CAUSES IMPORT-EXPORT TAX REVENUE TO DROP
The tax revenue from import-export activities of HCMC in the first half of the year dipped by 4.8% year-on-year to VND50.02 trillion (US$2.2 billion), which is partially attributed to the severe traffic congestion at seaports that causes cargo throughput to fall.
TAX SECTOR APPROACHING FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TO ENHANCE NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS
By carrying out consistent technology solutions, the tax sector is actively approaching the Fourth Industrial Revolution to accelerate administrative reform and enhance national competitiveness.
BANKS HOPE TO LURE FOREIGN INVESTORS
Despite the current increasing foreign investment inflows, merged and acquired banks will consider selling stakes to foreign investors after completing the restructuring to up the attractiveness of sales, bank officials said.
MOF AIMS FOR E-FINANCE SYSTEM BY 2025
The Ministry of Finance aims to have financial cloud infrastructure fully operational by 2025. Innovation in mobile devices and cloud technology on a large scale is key to technological application of the fourth industrial revolution, said Minister of Finance Đinh Tiến Dũng.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM NEEDED FOR BETTER ACCESSIBILITY TO CREDIT
Vietnam's access to credit has improved significantly and remained stable among the top 30 countries. In the Doing Business Report 2018 released by the World Bank (WB), the country’s Getting Credit Index ranked 29th out of 90 countries, lower than that of Malaysia and Cambodia at 20th and on par with Singapore but higher than that of Thailand (42), Indonesia (55), Laos (77) and the Philippines (142).
DRAFT LAW LIFTS BANKS’ ROLE IN E-COMMERCE
Payments for e-commerce transactions must be made via banks or authorised payment intermediary services, according to the draft of the amended Law on Tax Management. The draft law, which was recently released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for recommendation, aims to better manage and collect taxes on e-commerce businesses, which have developed strongly in Việt Nam in recent years.
BANKS CUT DEPOSIT RATES
Many banks have slashed deposit interest rates by 20-40 basis points given their ample liquidity, Tien Phong newspaper reports. Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Bank (VPBank) has lowered rates by 20 basis points for deposits of less than six months, 30 basis points for six- and seven-month tenors, and 40 basis points for savings of between eight and 11 months. This is the third deposit rate cut of VPBank in two months.
