Vietnam Monetary Market Sees Positive Changes: SBV

Recent weeks have witnessed positive changes in Vietnam's monetary market with easing interest rates and slight U.S dollar revaluation, the State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, said in its report released March 25.

 

SBV's timely interventions into monetary market have already made the inter-bank interest rate become stable while the overly high overnight interest rates seen before Tet and right after Tet have passed.

 

The inter-bank interest rates have been decreasing since early March with the biggest fall of 3.43 per cent (from 8.57 per cent to 5.14 per cent) for overnight interest rates and 3.2 per cent (from 12.06 per cent to 8.86 per cent) for two-week loans.

 

Popular lending interest rates offered by state-owned commercial banks are 12.6 per cent-14.6 per cent per annum (short-term), 13.5 per cent-16.2 per cent (medium-term), and 13.5 per cent-16.2 per cent (long-term).

 

The rates of joint stock commercial banks, meanwhile, are 18.42 per cent for short-term, and 21.85 per cent for medium- and long-term loans.

 

Regarding the VND/USD exchange rate, the dollar value unexpectedly increased to VND15,960/US$1 today from VND15,888/US$1

 

As such, the sharp devaluation of the dollar, which has been badly affecting exports, has improved, the SBV said, adding that it will follow the Prime Minister’s instruction on regulating the exchange rate on the market supply and demand basis with the maximum devaluation of the dollar expected at 2 per cent. (Vietnam Economic Times)