HANOI: The net interest margins (NIM) for listed banks have declined to their lowest level since 2019, but experts expect this trend to reverse in the near future, thanks to positive developments in the current account savings account (Casa) ratio and expectations of a US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate cut.
According to figures from financial data provider WiChart, the NIM for listed banks continued to narrow in the second quarter of this year to (2Q25) 3.17%, down 0.13 percentage points compared with the previous quarter, when capital costs increased faster than yield on earning assets.
The level approached the bottom rate of 3.16% recorded in 1Q19.
Nguyen The Minh, director of the Yuanta Securities Vietnam Co’s research division, said that the NIM’s downward trend had continued for the past few years.
According to Minh, the main cause stems from the fact that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is currently loosening monetary policy, as the government has required the SBV to maintain low interest rates to support economic recovery and prioritise growth.
Maintaining low interest rates has kept the NIM low.
The NIM decline has also come from a change in the banks’ capital raising methods.
Previously, banks tended to raise capital from international markets through long-term US dollar-denominated loans with preferential capital costs, which helped them optimise NIM. — Viet Nam News/ANN
