Vietnam PM Asks PetroVietnam, Vinacomin to Sell Dollars to Central Bank

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has requested PetroVietnam, Vinacomin and other state-owned corporations to sell part of their dollar receipts to the State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank.

 

By doing do, the move will help the central bank have sufficient dollar sources to stabilize the domestic forex market, according to a document signed by the PM Nov 26.

 

Dung also ordered domestic commercial banks to sell dollars to these state-owned groups and corporations.

 

In an interview with reporters of the Tuoi Tre newspaper Nov 25, a member of the National Advisory Council for Finance and Monetary Policies proposed that state-owned corporations and groups sell $5 billion-$6 billion out of their total dollar holdings of $10.3 billion to the central bank.

 

Vietnam’s forex reserves are down to 12 weeks of imports, compared with 20 weeks by end-2008. (Youth)