According to Vietnam national television broadcaster VTV, Vietnamese banks have only expanded their lending by more than 2% this year, a significant decrease from the 5.04% growth in the same period last year. Despite the central bank’s two policy interest rate cuts last month, the growth in banks’ total lending has yet to reach a fifth of the annual credit growth target of 14-15%. Experts attribute the decline to weak demand, slower economic growth, and turmoil in the real estate market, which has contracted since 2022 due to a debt crisis. Banks have lowered their expectations for loan demand and anticipate total lending to grow 4% in the second quarter and expand by 13.1% for the year.