State Bank of Vietnam

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is the central bank of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It operates as a ministry-level body under the Government of Vietnam rather than as an independently owned commercial bank. Its core mandate covers monetary policy, currency issuance, foreign-exchange administration, management of international reserves, banking supervision, and the promotion of stability across Vietnam’s financial institutions. The SBV is the sole institution authorized to issue the Vietnamese đồng and acts as the government’s principal monetary authority. The institution was created on 6 May 1951, when President Hồ Chí Minh signed Decree 15/SL establishing the Vietnam National Bank. Its formation reflected the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s effort to build a monetary and financial system independent of the colonial arrangements that had previously operated through Banque de l’Indochine. On 21 January 1960, the institution was renamed the State Bank of Vietnam. Following national reunification, the central bank of the former Republic of Vietnam was merged into the State Bank in July 1976, bringing the monetary administrations of the two former states into a single institution. Vietnam’s Đổi Mới reforms brought a major change to the SBV’s role. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the country moved away from a highly concentrated banking structure and began establishing specialized state-owned banks and permitting the development of a broader commercial-banking sector. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam, now VietinBank, and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture were among the institutions created during this transition. A 1990 reorganization clarified the State Bank’s position as the government’s monetary and banking regulator, while commercial lending responsibilities increasingly shifted to separate state-owned and private banks. The SBV formulates and implements monetary policy, seeks to support monetary and financial stability, and supervises commercial banks and other credit institutions. It provides banking services to financial institutions, may provide lending facilities to commercial banks, manages foreign-exchange policy and the country’s international reserves, and participates in government debt operations such as the issuance and auctioning of government bonds. Its governor is nominated by the prime minister and approved by the National Assembly, serves as a cabinet-level official, and is supported by vice governors appointed on the prime minister’s decision. The stated terms for the governor and vice governors are five years. The bank also has an important institutional and architectural legacy. Several SBV premises occupy buildings inherited from Banque de l’Indochine, including former colonial-era offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, and Nam Định. These sites connect the modern central bank to the successive monetary systems that operated in Vietnam before independence, reunification, and economic liberalization. The SBV remains central to Vietnam’s management of exchange rates, liquidity, banking-sector risks, and currency circulation. Public discussions concerning it have included criticism of the quality of polymer banknotes, allegations involving the use or sale of state property by a former governor, and scrutiny of regulatory failures connected with major banking corruption cases. As of 2024, reference material reported that the institution held more than US$100 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, although reserve levels are time-sensitive and should be interpreted with their relevant reporting date.

Before Vietnam established an independent national monetary authority, the monetary system of French Indochina was administered through Banque de l’Indochine. That institution combined central-banking and commercial-banking functions within the colonial order. After the August Revolution of 1945, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam began building its own financial institutions and sought greater control over currency and monetary administration. On 6 May 1951, President Hồ Chí Minh signed Decree 15/SL establishing the Vietnam National Bank. The new institution represented an important step in creating a monetary system controlled by the revolutionary government. On 21 January 1960, the bank was renamed the State Bank of Vietnam. During the period in which Vietnam was divided, the institution served the monetary administration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. National reunification created the need to integrate the separate financial structures operating in the north and south. In July 1976, the National Bank of Vietnam of the former Republic of Vietnam was merged into the State Bank of Vietnam. The merger consolidated the country’s central-banking functions under one institution, although Vietnam’s banking system continued to operate within a highly state-directed economic model. The Đổi Mới reforms initiated a gradual restructuring of that model. Beginning in the late 1980s, Vietnam created specialized commercial banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture. These reforms separated, to an increasing degree, the State Bank’s monetary and regulatory responsibilities from the commercial lending activities of other state-owned banks. The 1990 reorganization formally recast the State Bank as the institution responsible for managing money, credit, and banking operations on behalf of the state, stabilizing the value of the currency, and maintaining the exclusive authority to issue national currency. In its modern form, the SBV is a ministry-level body under the Government of Vietnam. It works on monetary-policy formulation and implementation, banking supervision, financial-institution stability, exchange-rate and foreign-exchange administration, and reserve management. It also provides banking facilities to financial institutions, may lend to commercial banks, and participates in government bond issuance and auctions. The governor has cabinet-level status and is nominated by the prime minister for approval by the National Assembly; vice governors are appointed through the government on the governor’s recommendation. The stated term for both positions is five years. The institution’s physical history also reflects Vietnam’s changing political and economic order. Some of its principal buildings were inherited from Banque de l’Indochine, including former offices completed in the 1920s and 1930s in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, and Nam Định. These buildings are reminders of the colonial monetary infrastructure that preceded the national central bank. The SBV continues to be a key institution in Vietnam’s economic management. Its responsibilities include the circulation of đồng banknotes, oversight of commercial banks, foreign-exchange policy, international reserves, and financial stability. Its public profile has also been affected by controversies concerning state property transactions, criticism of polymer-banknote production quality, and allegations involving former officials in major banking-corruption investigations.

• 2024

  Reported foreign-exchange reserves exceed US$100 billion

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reported that the State Bank held more than US$100 billion in foreign-exchange reserves as of 2024.

• 1990

  Central-bank mandate reorganized

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  An ordinance reorganized the State Bank and defined its role in managing money, credit, banking operations, currency stability, and exclusive currency issuance.

• 1988

  Banking-system restructuring begins

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  Vietnam began creating separate specialized commercial banks, helping narrow the State Bank’s role toward central banking and regulation during the Đổi Mới period.

• 1976

  Central-banking institutions unified after reunification

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  In July, the central bank of the former Republic of Vietnam was merged into the State Bank of Vietnam following national reunification.

• 1960

  Institution renamed State Bank of Vietnam

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  On 21 January, the Vietnam National Bank adopted the name State Bank of Vietnam.

• 1951

  Vietnam National Bank established

  [1]State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org

  Decree 15/SL, signed by President Hồ Chí Minh on 6 May, established the Vietnam National Bank as the monetary institution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Vietnam’s central monetary authority and banking-sector regulator

• Currency · 1951

  Vietnamese đồng issuance

  The State Bank of Vietnam is the sole issuer of Vietnam’s national currency, the Vietnamese đồng. Currency issuance and circulation management are core statutory functions, supporting payments, monetary control, and confidence in the national unit of account.

• Central banking · 1951

  Monetary policy administration

  The SBV formulates and implements monetary policy with the stated objectives of supporting monetary stability and contributing to broader financial and economic stability. Its policy responsibilities include managing liquidity and influencing monetary conditions across Vietnam’s banking system.

• Financial regulation · 1990

  Banking supervision

  The institution supervises commercial banks and other financial institutions operating in Vietnam. This role includes promoting institutional stability, monitoring banking activity, and exercising regulatory authority over the country’s credit institutions.

• Reserve management · 1951

  Foreign-exchange and reserve management

  The SBV manages Vietnam’s international reserves and performs central-government functions relating to foreign exchange and exchange-rate administration. These responsibilities make it a principal institution in Vietnam’s external monetary and financial policy.

• Banking services · 1990

  Central-bank facilities for financial institutions

  The State Bank provides banking facilities to financial institutions and can lend to commercial banks under its central-bank responsibilities. These services support the functioning of the banking system and provide a mechanism for monetary and liquidity management.

• 2024

  Former official accused in banking-corruption prosecution

  A former State Bank official was accused of accepting approximately US$5.2 million in bribes and faced trial in a case associated with the investigation of Trương Mỹ Lan and Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank. The available reference does not establish a final judicial outcome.

  Source

• 2007

  Controversy over a former governor’s purchase of state property

  Former governor Lê Đức Thúy faced public controversy after attempting to purchase a State Bank-owned house at a price reported to be about one-tenth of its market value. The transaction was halted after media coverage drew attention to it.

  Source

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• 1990

  Refocus the State Bank as a central bank and regulatorStrategy

  Background

  Đổi Mới reforms were transforming Vietnam’s centrally directed financial system and creating specialized commercial banks.

  Action taken

  An ordinance reorganized the State Bank’s mandate around monetary management, currency stability, banking oversight, and exclusive currency issuance.

  Aftermath

  Commercial banking responsibilities increasingly shifted to separate state-owned and private institutions, while the SBV became more clearly defined as the country’s central bank and regulator.

  Source

• 1976

  Integrate the two Vietnamese central-banking systemsStrategy

  Background

  National reunification required the consolidation of the monetary and financial institutions of the former Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam.

  Action taken

  The central bank of the former Republic of Vietnam was merged into the State Bank of Vietnam in July 1976.

  Aftermath

  Vietnam operated with a unified central bank, although later reforms would separate central-banking functions from much commercial lending activity.

  Source

• 1960

  Rename the national bank as the State Bank of VietnamStrategy

  Background

  Vietnam’s monetary institution operated within the evolving administrative and economic structure of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

  Action taken

  The institution changed its name from Vietnam National Bank to State Bank of Vietnam on 21 January 1960.

  Aftermath

  The new name became the continuing identity of Vietnam’s central monetary authority and was retained through reunification and later economic reforms.

  Source

1. 1State Bank of Vietnamen.wikipedia.org
2. 2State Bank of Vietnam official websitesbv.gov.vn