The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam: Benchbook Online

Main tasks and practical skills:

• In this case, the Court shall apply the interest rate of a demand saving deposit announced at the time when the hearing of first instance is conducted (with respect to a transaction entered prior to 1 January 2006) or shall apply the basic interest rate (where the Civil Code 2005 applies).
• Also in this case, the parties agree that interest will be payable but fail to specify the interest rate or there is a dispute over the interest rate (The dispute relates to the unclear agreed interest rate).

*Comparison of interests of different types of a contract for a loan:

Interest-free loan -------------- Overdue interest rate shall be equivalent to 150% of the maximum offered interest rate announced by the State Bank at the time of hearing of first instance. The same interest rate shall apply to the whole duration of the overdue payment, which shall be calculated from the time when the loan is overdue to the time when the hearing of first instance is conducted.

Loan with interest ------------- Due interest rate shall not be more than 150% of the interest rate announced at the time of the loan. Overdue interest shall be calculated in the same way as interest-free loan.

Bank or credit loan ------------- Overdue and due interests shall be calculated according to contracts.

Unclear interest ----------- Interest rate shall be equivalent to interest rate of a demand saving deposit at the time of hearing of first instance