Credit institutions hope for better results in 2018 Hanoi - Most credit institutions reported good results in the second quarter of this year, and expected their business performance throughout 2018 to be better than the previous year.  Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA) During the period, demand for loans, deposits and payments and cards increased 51.1 percent, 36.9 percent and 35.4 percent, respectively, according to a survey conducted by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in June.  The credit institutions hoped that the demand would continue to surge in the next quarter and the entire year.  Up to 82.5 percent of respondents expected that risks for customers will remain stable in the third quarter while 6.5 percent thought risks would reduce in the period.  The credit institutions estimated that bad debts and credit outstanding balance will stay low till the end of 2018, lower than that the rates posted in the same period last year.  They expressed optimism on the liquidity of the banking system in both Vietnamese dong and foreign currencies.  The survey revealed that 67.4 percent of credit institutions said their business in April-June was better than the previous quarter, 76.1 percent of them had high hopes for July-September while 82.6 percent hoped for business improvement through 2018.  Up to 88 percent of the interviewees predicted their pre-tax profits in the year to rise against 2017, with total profits expected to grow 19.05 percent on average, higher than the 18.2 percent forecast in the first-quarter survey but lower than the 19.33 percent rate in the survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2017.  Meanwhile, 46 percent of the credit institutions said they had employed more workers in the second quarter and 30 percent of them reported a lack of necessary labour force, and 62 percent of them aim to recruit more labourers in the third quarter of 2018.  It is estimated that 70 percent of the credit institutions will increase the number of workers in the end of 2018, 23 percent will retain their present labour force and only 7 percent will cut personnel.  The respondents anticipated that capital mobilisation of the entire system will expand 5.45 percent in the third quarter and 16.51 percent in the year, both higher than the figures recorded in 2017.  Credit outstanding balance is projected to surge 5.99 percent in the third quarter and 16.78 percent in 2018, also higher than the numbers in 2017. VNA