Targeted credit relief: Vietnam steers funding to Vingroup, Sun Group, Masterise megaprojects

[HO CHI MINH CITY] Vietnam’s central bank has opened a special financing channel for 18 projects by Vingroup, Sun Group and Masterise, allowing banks to exclude new lending to those schemes from their annual credit-growth quotas.

The move gives banks more room to fund state-priority projects without formally lifting the system-wide credit target, which remains at 15 per cent for this year.

It also marks the latest in a series of regulatory adjustments aimed at loosening funding constraints as Vietnam pushes for double-digit economic growth this year and next, even as liquidity and prudential risks remain a concern.

Guidance dated Monday (Jun 22) from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to commercial banks showed that the projects have reported capital-raising needs of 752.1 trillion dong (S$36.9 billion) over the 2026-to-2033 period.

The funding schedule is heavily front-loaded, with around 85 per cent of the amount concentrated in the next three years.

The eligible projects include:

• Sun Group’s developments linked to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Phu Quoc in 2027 and the Rach Chiec national sports complex in Ho Chi Minh City;
• Vingroup’s Ben Thanh-Can Gio and Hanoi-Quang Ninh high-speed railway projects; and
• Masterise’s Gia Binh International Airport and related infrastructure in northern Vietnam.

“In essence, it represents a targeted form of credit easing,” Tyler Manh Dung Nguyen, chief market strategist at Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC), wrote in a note on Wednesday.

“This effectively creates additional lending capacity within the system, allowing banks to support large-scale projects without crowding out credit for other borrowers.”

Targeted relief, not blanket easing

Vietnam still manages bank lending through annual credit-growth quotas assigned to individual lenders.

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But the latest carve-out shows how the SBV can use that framework more flexibly, directing credit to selected growth drivers while keeping the broader system-wide target in place.

Quan Trong Thanh, head of equity research at Maybank Investment Bank Vietnam, said ordinary credit expansion may have a weaker growth multiplier in the current conditions.

This, he said, is because smaller small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as retail borrowers, remain cautious amid soft demand and compliance pressures.

“If Vietnam relies only on ordinary credit quotas, the spillover to GDP growth may be limited,” Thanh added. “Meanwhile, larger firms and suppliers tied to government-priority megaprojects are more likely to turn credit into real economic expansion.”

Based on Maybank’s estimates, lending to the 18 projects could add roughly one percentage point to annual system credit growth if fully disbursed according to the reported funding schedule.

That means credit growth in 2026 could move from 15 per cent to around 16 per cent.

“This is still something the central bank can proactively control,” Thanh said. “If funding conditions or inflationary pressure become more challenging, it can still tighten or slow the system-wide credit growth target.”

Over the past few months, the SBV has taken a series of other measures aimed at easing liquidity and funding constraints in the economy. The central bank has:

• Raised the cap on short-term funds banks can use for medium-term and long-term lending to 40 per cent from 30 per cent from Jul 1;
• Partially reversed restrictions on the treatment of Treasury deposits in loan-to-deposit ratio calculations; and
• Allowed some priority loans to be excluded from real-estate credit-growth limits.

Well-positioned banks stand to benefit

Thanh believes that the benefits of the latest policy will be concentrated among banks with enough funding capacity, risk appetite, risk-management capability and existing relationships with the large business groups selected to lead strategic projects.

The main beneficiaries include large state-owned banks such as Vietcombank and VietinBank, as well as selected private-sector lenders with deep corporate relationships, such as Techcombank, MB and National Citizen Bank.

However, the carve-out of the US$28 billion loans does not mean that banks can lend without restraint.

The SBV guidance pointed out that commercial banks remain responsible for assessing each borrower and each project, including project feasibility, efficiency, repayment capacity, capital balance and compliance with prudential rules.

Lenders must also monitor the excluded loans separately and submit monthly reports to the central bank before the 10th of each month.

“For these state-priority project loans, banks may face lower operating and credit costs, allowing them to accept thinner margins and offer more favourable terms to borrowers,” Thanh added.

The SBV has encouraged syndicated lending because the capital needs are large.

Under existing procedures, if a bank’s exposure to a single borrower or related parties exceeds legal lending limits – currently 13 per cent of capital and 21 per cent, respectively – it must make a report to the SBV, so the case can be submitted to the prime minister for consideration.

The central bank has also set project-level guardrails. Before extending credit, banks must require the relevant companies to confirm the funding needs of each project and commit that loan proceeds will be used only for the listed developments.

Total outstanding loans to each project, including proposed new lending, must not exceed the reported credit needs for that project.