Moody's rating actions on the 18 banks are driven purely by the sovereign rating action, and do not reflect a weakening of the banks' standalone financial profiles.

In the past months, the fact that many banks have seen their quota reaching the limits makes it hard for people and businesses to access loans.

Most banks expected better business results for the fourth quarter and the whole year.

The central bank achieved some success in managing the foreign exchange market as the USD/VND exchange rate maintained a sliding rate of about 3.1% in 2023, despite some periods approaching the VND24,800 threshold.