Agribank plans to increase assets by 20 percent
Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the country’s biggest bank, said it plans to raise total assets by 20% to more than VND450 trillion (US$25.7 billion) next year.
“The asset value will increase as we expect to boost total deposits by about 20% next year,” Nguyen The Binh, chief executive officer of the lender told Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other bankers at a conference in Hanoi Tuesday. “We will also increase loans for agricultural production by 17 to 18% next year.”
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries make up 22% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product, which grew 8.5% last year. The government is trying to accelerate growth after the economy expanded at 6.23%, the slowest pace in nine years.
State-owned Agribank’s total assets reached around VND380 trillion ($21.8 billion) this year, Do Tat Ngoc, chairman of the lender, said in an interview Tuesday. Pretax profit is estimated at about 2.5 trillion ($143.1 million), “slightly higher” than last year, according to Ngoc. (Bloomberg)
