Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The race of interest rate hikes amongcommercial banks is showing signs of cooling down as many banks have adjusteddown the rate by several percentage points per year after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday and have set stricterconditions for customers to enjoy the high rates.

At Techcombank, the highest deposit interest rate at the bank is currently9.2% per year, against 9.5% per year before Tet. To enjoy the 9.2% interest rate, depositors must be aVIP customer with minimum savings of 3billion VND over 12 months. Forregular customers, the rate for 6-month deposits at the bank is also down to8.5% per year from more than 9% before Tet.

At Sacombank, the highest interest rate before Tet was 9.8% per year.However, the highest rate is currently only 9.2% per year, applied to online deposits with terms from 15 to 36months.

Saigonbank, which was the first bank to list a deposit interest rate of upto 10.5% per year last year, alsolowered the savings interest rate. Accordingly, the highest interest rate atthe bank is only 9.5% per year,applicable to 13-month deposits, both online and at the counter.

The same move was seen atBaoVietBank. Before Tet, customers could receive the highest interest ratesof 9.8%, 10.2% and 10.3% per year forsix-month, 13-month and 15-month terms, respectively, under a special savingsdeposit. However, the programme has ended and the rate of more than 9% is currently only applied on onlinechannels.

Specifically, when depositing through EzSaving/ BAOVIET Pay for a 6-monthterm, customers can receive the highest interest rate of only 9.3% per year. For terms of 13 and 15months, the rate is 9.4% and 9.5%, respectively.

Some other banks also lowered their highest interest rates such asDongABank (from 9.85% to 9.5% per year); BacABank (from 9.8% to 9.5% per year); and VietCapitalBank (from 9.5% to 8.9% per year).

At the four biggest banks BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank and Vietcombank,interest rates, in general, have not changedmuch compared to before Tet. BIDV and VietinBank both are listing thehighest interest rate of 8.2% peryear while the figure at Agribank is 7.9% and Vietcombank 7.4%.

According to experts, savings at banks declined in the fourth quarter oflast year due to the seasonal factor of Tetwhen firms concentrated capital to produce goods and pay year-end bonuses toemployees while individuals also often reserved more cash to spend for Tet. At that time, banks had to increaseinterest rates to lure deposits to ensure liquidity.

However, after Tet when cash flows into banks again, the banks’ liquidityis under less pressure. Therefore, banks also do not need to raise depositswith high interest rates.

According to finance expert Dinh TheHien, cash will continue to flow into banks as the savings rates remainhigh compared to those of previous years.

Deposit interest rates in the first quarter of 2023 will be commonly at6.5-7% per year at large-sized andgood-quality banks and 8-9% atsmall-sized banks, Hien forecast, expecting that by the end of the secondquarter of 2023, the interest rate will return to the normal level at around 7% per year./.