Vietnam PM: No Plan to Devalue Dong, May Widen Trading Band-Media
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a meeting with David Fernandez, economist of JP Morgan Chase on June 5 confirmed that Vietnam has no plan to devalue the dong at this time, state media said.
“After careful consideration and study, we [the government of Vietnam] has seen no reasons to and have no plan to devalue the Vietnam dong as our total trade surplus reached roughly US$1 billion between January and May this year,” PM Dung emphasized with David Fernandez.
Mr. Dung refuted the rumors from foreign analyses that the Vietnam dong will likely depreciate 40 per cent-50 per cent, the Thoi Bao Kinh Te newspaper said.
The government also has no plan to put state control over indirect foreign investment (FII) flow like other regional countries, which is not necessary and not in compliance with WTO commitments.
Withdrawal of the FII out of Vietnam we estimate at US$8 billion is normal as the Asean country’s economy is still strong financially, Mr. Dung said.
The USD/VND rate dropped to buying at VND16,300 and selling at VND17,100 on Monday in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, following the central bank’s decision issued Friday to ban selling dollars to private buyers, traders said.
They noted it is hard to buy dollars legally so they had to seek underground deals and dollar price may be as high as VND17,500 today. (Vietnam Economic Times, dantrionline, Labor)
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