Vietnam to raise bank loan cap for stock investment

HANOI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Vietnam plans to raise the limit on bank loans to stock investors to up to 20 percent of registered capital from 3 percent, a central bank official was quoted on Wednesday as saying.

The cap could be 15-20 percent and banks with a capital adequacy ratio of at least 8 percent and bad debts of less than 5 percent would qualify, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper quoted Deputy Governor Nguyen Dong Tien as saying.

A new ruling would be issued late this week, Tien told a news conference in Hanoi to which foreign media were not invited. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Battye)