The total loans of Vietnam’s banking system in 2022 reached more than 11.78 quadrillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 497.9 billion U.S. dollars), up 13.96 percent year on year, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Tuesday. The credit structure of Vietnam’s banking system has shifted its focus towards production sectors while loans to sectors with high potential risks have been tightened including property, securities and corporate bonds, Vietnam News Agency reported, citing Ha Thu Giang, deputy director general in charge of the SBV Department of Credit for Economic Sectors. The SBV will continue to manage credit growth in line with macroeconomic developments while controlling inflation and supporting economic recovery and growth in 2023 amid challenges posed by the global economy, SBV deputy governor Dao Minh Tu said at a press conference held on Tuesday. The SBV has recently directed local banks to cut costs and unnecessary expenses to have room for lending interest rate reduction to support economic recovery and development. In early December, it raised its cap on the local banking system’s credit growth for this year after the domestic property and financial markets faced a credit crunch.