Vietnam to Bring Inflation to Single Digit Next Year, Finance Minister Says
The Vietnamese government is determined to take synchronous measures to fight inflation, targeting to bring it back to below 10 per cent before the end of 2009, Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh said at the 17th World Economic Forum June 15.
Vietnam had hyper-inflation of over 700 per cent in 1990s but it managed to overcome it, said Ninh, who led the Vietnamese delegation to attend the WEF on East Asia 2008. The country is ready to further hike interest rates to lower inflation to single digit next year.
Vietnam’s central bank raised its base interest rates to 14 per cent from 12 per cent last week, the highest level in Asia, as well as lowered the value of dong by almost 2 per cent.
However, “we don't intend to make a depreciation of the dong as it would have a great impact on our economy,” Ninh said.
The finance minister also called on Asia to work together to find solutions to impacts from the slowdown in the world at a world economic forum.
The forum participants remained upbeat about Vietnam’s economic outlook, saying that Vietnam is still a bright investment destination because of its advantages of human resources, opening market and the country’s implementation of WTO commitments. (People’s Army, VNA)
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