HANOI: Vietnam's credit institutions are facing difficulties in slashing annual lending interest rates by 0.25-0.5 percentage points upon the central bank's latest request, local media reported on Monday.

The request, unexpectedly announced at the weekend, aims to provide local businesses in priority sectors with better access to loans, hence boosting economic growth, daily newspaper Tien Phong (Pioneer) quoted Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue as saying, reports Xinhua.

"Banks can hardly lower lending rate at this time. They will have to suffer considerable benefit losses," a local banker said.