Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the MSc in Finance FINANCE DISSERTATION ON THE IMPACT OF CREDIT RISK ON BANK STABILITY: EVIDENCE IN VIETNAM CONTEXT NAME OF STUDENT: NGUYEN THI MINH NGOC ID No: 22080951 Intake 6 Supervisor: Dr Roberto Ercole September 2023 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of credit risk on the stability of Vietnamese commercial banks. Specifically, research the relationship between credit risk and stability using an unbalanced panel dataset of Vietnamese commercial banks from 2012 to 2022, a critical period for implementing the Prime Minister's Decision. Prime Minister (254/QD-TTg) on restructuring the Vietnamese commercial banking system. To describe the credit risk of Vietnamese commercial banks, the author uses the bad debt index.
Research results, based on a data set of 22 Vietnamese commercial banks, show that credit risk has a negative impact on not only the stability but also the profitability of banks. The dissertation also has some implications for policy makers and bank managers. First, it suggests that reducing credit risk is crucial for enhancing bank stability in Vietnam, especially in the context of high economic uncertainty and volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, it suggests that improving capital adequacy, asset quality, liquidity management, and risk management practices is essential for maintaining bank stability in Vietnam.
Third, it suggests that monitoring both ROA and ROE as indicators of bank stability is important for capturing different aspects of bank performance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge with thanks to my supervisor TS. Robert Ercole for his guidance, academic encouragement and welcoming support. Thank you for helping me, wholeheartedly guiding me, giving me valuable advice, comments and suggestions throughout the process of writing my thesis so that I can have the most complete work.
I would also like to extend my thanks to Stata Systems for the turning of the technical equipment with the skills in running data which help me so much in the research. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for the support and appearance when always being by my side caring me throughout my research work. The research process has many limitations in terms of time and personal knowledge, so the assignment cannot avoid shortcomings. Therefore, I hope to receive the attention and suggestions from teachers to be able to improve.
knowledge as well as gain more experience for yourself. Thank you sincerely! TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLES. 1 Research goal and questions. 3 Object and scope of the research.
The definition and theory of credit risk. The bank stability and its determinant. THE OVERVIEW OF VIETNAMESE BANK STABILITY IN THE PERIOD FROM 2012 TO 2022. Fixed effect model (FEM).
Random effect model (REM). RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. VIF Test for Multicollinearity. Wald Test for Heteroskedasticity.
Wooldridge Test for Serial correlation. 41 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Model specification (Author’s construction). 24 Table 2 : Descriptive statistics (Author's calculation on Stata). 26 Table 3: Correlation matrix (Author's calculation on Stata).
27 Table 4: VIF Test (Author's calculation on Stata). 29 Table 5: Wald test results (Author's calculation on Stata). 30 Table 6: Woodridge Test (Author's calculation on Stata). 31 Table 7: Regression result (Author's calculation on Stata).
INTRODUCTION Rationale Bank is defined in various ways but in general, it is a financial institution that provides customers’ deposits, borrowers’ loans, and other monetary services such as currency exchange, credit cards, moreover banking system also plays a vital role in assisting the central bank in achieving national monetary policy objectives. According to various previous theories, the banking system has played an important role in human, social, and economic development. In a well-functioning economy, banks provide an intermediation service that connects savers and investors by diverting investment funds to the uses that give the highest rate of return, hence boosting specialization and the division of labor, and becoming the main engine of economic growth (Todaro & Smith, 2003). Therefore, it is evitable that in the era of integration and globalization, to gain financial development the banks’ stability should be seen as the utmost important priority by the authority which also be seen as the most vital driver leading to the GDP growth.
The question about determinants of preserving financial system stability has long been at the foundation of bank supervision and regulation. However, the topic has received even more attention since the global financial crisis of 2007/2008. This is because evidence abounds that major banks were to blame for the crisis, which caused enormous harm to many economies throughout the world. The recent global financial crisis and its effects on the financial sector globally serve as evidence of how crucial it is to keep the banking system stable.
The topic of bank risk taking channels has also received a lot of attention recently (Batten & Vo, 2019), (Borio & Zhu, 2012). For the assessment and management of the banking system, it is critical to have a thorough understanding of the factors that affect bank stability. It is much more crucial in a nation like Vietnam where banks provide the majority of the funding for private enterprises and economic expansion. This essay initially aids in a deeper comprehension of the factors influencing bank stability that have been brought to light by the severe downturn that has followed the global 1 crisis.
Additionally, the article advances knowledge of factors that affect bank stability generally and in an emerging economy like Vietnam in particular. By permitting comparison of the bank behaviors across different country datasets, this method also enables us to determine whether there are any differences in the factors of bank stability in an emerging country. The results of this study indicate that bank size (measured as natural logarithm of total assets), capital structure, profitability (measured as return on equity-ROE), solvency, credit risk ( measured by Non-Performing Loan), inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) have generally supported bank stability. The results also indicate that credit risk and solvency have generally undermined bank stability.
These financial risks, according to Cecchetti and Schoenholtz (2014), include the possibility of depositors withdrawing money suddenly (liquidity risk), borrowers not being able to repay debt (credit risk), interest rate changes interest rates (interest rate risk) and bank computer system failure or building fire (operational risk). However, the traditional function of the bank is to create deposit and loan accounts for the clients, which also means that the main resources of the bank (Njanike, 2018). In other words, lending and credit operations are the primary sources of income for banks, so credit risk has a significant impact on the effectiveness as well as stability of banks. Furthermore, banking crises can emerge as a result of macroeconomic changes such as a reduction in GDP, an increase in the unemployment rate, interest rates, and inflation, all of which can affect credit risk (Festić, Kavkler and Repina, 2011; Nkusu, 2011).
Credit risk is an important concern for both banks and the economy. It appears and has a direct impact on banks' capital resources, such as capital loss, as well as the chance of bank insolvency. The necessity to focus on credit risk management is an unavoidable requirement for the majority of developing market countries. Credit risk is influenced by banking parameters such as total assets, size scale, bad debt, liquidity, and so on, in addition to macro concerns.
2 In Vietnam, since political and economic reforms began in 1986, banking sector has been seen as a major engine for promoting financial system development and achieving economic growth of around 7% (V. Nguyen & Do, 2020; Tran & Foroudi, 2020), due to a weak governance system, and the swings in macroeconomic conditions prior to global financial effects. Since 2012, the commercial banking system has been undergoing restructuring in order to limit credit risk, reduce bad debts, restructure capital and assets, and improve governance capacity in accordance with international standards in order to gradually improve the business efficiency of banks as well as the Vietnamese banking system. However, profit in the banking sector fell dramatically between 2012 and 2015 due to poor debts in lending and the economic downturn.
Specifically, the bad debt ratio on commercial banks' balance sheets climbed to 17.2%, while the overall system should maintain an acceptable bad debt percentage of less than 2%. In the last year, the Vietnamese banking sector has seen substantial changes in terms of development and stability. According to a recent survey conducted by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), loan growth remained stable at 8-9%, while capital mobilization increased by 9-10%. Research goal and questions The previous part emphasizes the significance of credit risk to the financial system and the economy's overall stability.
Therefore, this study mainly contributes to the discussion by investigating the impact of a bank's credit risk on its stability in the setting of Vietnam, particularly in a recovering economic climate following the 2008-2009 financial crisis. One of the motivations for writing this study is to investigate the relationship between credit risk and bank stability, as well as other drivers of bank stability. In the first phase, it is evaluated if there is a positive or negative reciprocal relationship between credit risk and bank stability as well as the other factors that may impact on the stability of banks. Based on this initial result, it is examined whether credit risks and other drivers individually and/or together contribute to bank instability.
After that, recommending solutions to reduce credit risk and increase banks operation efficiency in Vietnam. 3 To approach these research goals, the study raises the following research questions: What factors influence bank stability? What is the relation between credit risk and bank stability? What should be the solutions to restrain credit risk and enhance the Vietnamese bank stability? Object and scope of the research The object of this research is the factors that affecting bank stability and specifically the impact of credit risk on the stability of Vietnamese banks. This study employs pooled ordinary least squares (pooled OLS), fixed effects model (FEM), random effects model (REM), and generalized least squares (GLS) to analyze the aforementioned objectives because GLS can correct common flaws in the conventional model such as multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, and autocorrelation. The research scope is focusing on factors that affect credit risk and the stability of Vietnamese banks.
Data is gathered from the financial statements of 22 Vietnamese banks, as well as macroeconomic data from ADB indicators in the period of eleven years from 2012 to 2022. The definition and theory of credit risk Given that a bank exists not merely to take deposits but also to extend credit, it is always exposed to credit risk. As the definition of Timothy W. Koch (1995), credit risk is the possible loss of net revenue and the value of credit capital due to non-payment or late payment by customers.
According to Basel Committee (2006), credit risk is when the loan customer or the counterparty is unable to meet the obligations under the terms agreed upon. The risk of loss for a bank is the obligor's breach of the contract, defined as any substantial breach of the contractual obligation to repay the debt and interest. The most important risk that banks have to deal with is credit risk, and the prosperity of their business relies more heavily on accurately assessing and effectively handling this risk compared to any other risks they face. 4 According to Circular 02/2013/TT-NHNN dated January 21, 2013 of the State Bank of Vietnam Regulations on the classification of assets that have the levels and methods of setting up risk provisions and the use of provisions to handle risks in the operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches defined that when a bank or a foreign bank branch lends money to a customer, the possibility that the customer will not pay back part or all of the debt as agreed is referred as credit risk.