Banking & finance: Vietnam’s bad debt climbs to record VND 294 trillion in H1 2025
Bad debt across 28 Vietnamese banks rose to VND 294.2 trillion or US$11.32 billion by June 2025, up more than 12 percent since the start of the year, Tien Phong has reported → view source.
Key details:
- Major banks: VPBank’s bad debt reached VND 32.95 trillion or US$1.27 billion, up 13.3 percent in six months; SHB rose by VND 1.58 trillion or US$61 million.
- Smaller banks: PGBank and Nam A Bank recorded sharp increases of 42.5 percent and 40 percent respectively.
- System-wide: Industry bad debt balance rose more than 16 percent compared with end-2024 to a record VND 267.3 trillion or US$10.28 billion. Risk provisions increased only 3.2 percent to VND 213.4 trillion or US$8.21 billion.
- Ratios: On-balance sheet bad debt ratio was 4.75 percent in July 2024, up from 4.55 percent at end-2023 and about 2 percent in 2022.
Of note, private credit is at the centre of the government’s economic growth strategy, with banks pressured to reach a credit growth target of 16 percent this year.
Rising bad debts may be a sign that banks are embarking on risky lending practices in order to reach this quota.
