HANOI - Foreign banks are seeking a bigger foothold in Vietnam by extending hard-currency loans to local lenders squeezed between rising domestic funding costs and government pressure to expand credit to meet ambitious economic growth targets, bankers and analysts said.
The growing reliance on offshore funding highlights a central challenge for Communist Party chief To Lam's economic agenda, with banks expected to bankroll most of the planned infrastructure projects worth about $200 billion and support annual growth of at least 10% through 2030 despite mounting funding strains.
