State-owned commercial banks such as Vietcombank, VietinBank, and Agribank increased deposit interest rates by 0.8 to 1.3 per cent on September 27. This will likely push up all deposit rates.

Following a decision by the US Fed on September 22, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) joined the global trend and increased operating interest rates for VND from 4 per cent to 5 per cent. The move will not really have an impact, however, because no bank has borrowed capital from the central bank for many years.

Mr. Michael Kokalari, Chief Economist at VinaCapital, has said that Vietnam’s resilience and growth in GDP and incomes will boost the VN-Index significantly if and when the US Fed eases interest rates.