Double-digit profit growth rate points to a bubbly credit boom that threatens to inflate underlying problems in the unreformed finance sector.
Vietnam’s crowded banking sector is popping the champagne after reporting double-digit profits in the first half of the year, but a bubbly credit boom seems poised to pop later in the year.
Pre-tax earnings of the nine listed banks grew by an average 30%, with Vietcombank reaping $232.5 million, VietinBank $212.4 million, BIDV $164.1 million and Military Bank $111.7 million.
The windfall came from a lending surge that may not be sustained through the rest of the year due to credit limits, and profits will in any case be siphoned off to…