HANOI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has cut its policy rates in an attempt to spur the economy, which has been hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam News Agency cited the state bank as reporting on Tuesday.
The country's state bank cut its benchmark refinance rate to 5 percent from 6 percent and the discount rate to 3.5 percent from 4 percent, effective Tuesday. The overnight lending rate in the inter-bank market is reduced to 6 percent from 7 percent, according to the statement posted on its website.
It also lowered the caps on the interest rates of dong-denominated deposits and loans by 0.25-0.5 percentage points, depending on the maturities. Meanwhile, the bank also ordered banks to lower the maximum dong lending interest rate for short-term loans to 5.5 percent from 6 percent.
The COVID-19 outbreak is evolving in a complicated manner, posing a negative impact on the global economy, the news agency cited the bank as saying.
Vietnam's GDP grew by 7.02 percent last year and the country set its annual economic growth target for 2020 at about 6.8 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
