Moody's upgrades ratings of local banks

They includes Joint-Stock Commercial (JSC) Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), JSC Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), and JSC Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank).

Moody's also upgraded the long-term counterparty risk ratings (CRR) and counterparty risk assessments (CRAs) of VietinBank and BIDV and affirmed those of Vietcombank.

The long-term foreign-currency deposit ratings of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Military Commercial Bank (Military Bank), and Vietnam Technological and Commercial Bank (Techcombank) were upgraded. All other ratings of these three banks were affirmed.

At the same time, Moody's has upgraded the long-term local and foreign-currency bank deposit and issuer ratings of five banks including An Binh Bank (ABB), Lien Viet Post Bank (Lien Viet), Tien Phong Bank (TPBank), Vietnam International Bank (VIB), and Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VP Bank).

Moody's has also upgraded the long-term CRR and CRA of Saigon - Hanoi Bank (SHB), Ho Chi Minh City Development Bank (HDBank), and Orient Bank (OCB).

Moody's changed the outlook for the local currency deposit and local and foreign-currency issuer ratings of eight banks -- Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, ABB, Lien Viet, TPBank, VIB and VP Bank - to stable from positive.

The upgrade in Vietnam's sovereign rating to Ba3 is underpinned by strong trends in growth, underway for the past decade, which is well-supported by a robust external sector and favorable consumption trends. The upgrade also reflects improvements in the health of the banking sector, albeit from relatively weak levels.

The rating actions follow Moody's Investors Service’s upgrade of Vietnam's sovereign rating from B1 to Ba3, and change in the outlook for the sovereign's rating to stable from positive late last week.