Agribank is cutting lending rates by up to 2.5% a year on existing loans and has earmarked more than 500,000 billion dong for preferential credit programmes, while Techcombank is cutting by up to 2% a year with a support scale of 40,000 billion dong, Báo Chính phủ reported on 22 October. The packages follow repeated calls from the State Bank of Vietnam to bring rates down.
Agribank: up to 2.5% off loans already on the books
According to Báo Chính phủ, the cut of up to 2.5% a year applies to outstanding loans, depending on the borrower and the rate currently charged. Agribank has also set maximum lending rates by loan term and borrower type.
The state-owned bank expects to give up about 2,000 billion dong in income. Since the start of 2026, it says rate cuts and preferential programmes have already reduced its interest income by nearly 6,000 billion dong. Branches must complete the cuts by 25/10/2026.
Agribank has set aside 70,000 billion dong for small and medium-sized enterprises borrowing for production and business, at rates 1-2% a year below the average for the same term. Its preferential programmes for priority customers and sectors total more than 500,000 billion dong, at rates 2-2.5% a year below normal lending rates.
Techcombank: two programmes of 20,000 billion dong each
Báo Chính phủ reported that Techcombank's cuts of up to 2% a year target production and business lending. For SMEs and household businesses it runs a 20,000 billion dong interest support programme: 10,000 billion dong launched in September 2026 and another 10,000 billion dong added from October 2026. A second programme, "Đồng hành cùng doanh nghiệp - Bứt tốc thành công" (roughly, Partnering with businesses to accelerate success), offers up to 20,000 billion dong in disbursements to corporate and financial institution clients.
Techcombank is also lowering deposit rates by 0.5% for terms of six months or longer for all individual and business customers, so savers will feel the cut too.
The starting point: September lending rates
A VnExpress survey of data from 30 banks showed average lending rates still edging up in September:
| Bank | Average lending rate, September |
|---|---|
| OCB (individual customers) | 11.38% |
| Techcombank (individual customers) | 11.24% |
| TPBank (individual customers) | 11.03% |
| BVBank (individual customers) | 11% |
| Agribank | 8.42% |
| BIDV | 7.73% |
The State Bank's latest system-wide figure put the average lending rate at 10.7% in August, 1.7 percentage points higher than at the end of last year. VnExpress noted that what each borrower pays varies with risk, financial strength and collateral.
How the central bank has pushed
- 18 October: the State Bank asked banks to cut lending rates by 1.5-2 percentage points a year for production, business and priority sectors, and to lower deposit rates on terms of six months or more by at least 0.5 percentage points.
- Early in the week: Governor Phạm Đức Ấn said cuts should be considered for both existing and new loans, targeted rather than across the board (related story).
- 21 October: the regulator urged banks to cut rates across all sales channels and warned that laggards could see their credit growth quotas reduced (related story).
- 22 October: Agribank and Techcombank announced the packages above.
According to VnExpress, the four state-owned banks and dozens of private lenders have updated deposit rates and launched loan packages 1.5-2% below their usual rates.
What comes next
Agribank's branches have until 25 October 2026 to apply the cuts. The State Bank has not yet published the system-wide average lending rate for September, and banks that do not cut as instructed risk smaller credit growth quotas. The regulator says it will run monetary policy in line with market conditions and stands ready to provide liquidity to commercial banks when needed.