VAMC takes on more bad debts Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) has signed contracts to buy bad debts totaling VND850 billion (USD40.4 million) from three more banks.   After initially buying VND1.723 trillion (USD81.9 million) worth of bad debt from the Vietnam Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the company recently bought the bad debt of the tree more banks: Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB), Saigon - Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) and Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PGBank). These banks all have high rates of bad debt. SHB is estimated at 9% and PGBank at 8%. To date, VAMC has issued bonds worth VND2.57 trillion to the mentioned-above banks. Selling bad debt to VAMC has helped to cut Agribank’s bad debt rate by 7.56%. Agribank has been in the process of completing procedures to receive bonds from VAMC. The vice chairman of VAMC, Nguyen Quoc Hung, said the firm will continue buying bad debt from banks and the banks will be offered bonds at the maximum interest rate of 2% per year, instead of the current refinanced level of 7%. VAMC will priositise the bad debt purchases of three bank groups: state-owned commercial banks, banks with a bad debt rate of more than 3% and those urged to restructure. By Nguyen Hien | dtinews.vn