Vietnam mulls to disclose national forex reserve

Nguyen Van Giau, the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said he will discuss with government officials about making Vietnam’s national forex reserve public.

Giau said he will discuss with ministers, look through the matter and propose to the Minister for official disclosure as the national forex reserve has been rarely publicized so far.

The level of the central bank’s independence and openness, including the publicizing national forex reserve, are of great interest by ADB representatives at its annual meeting being held in Vietnam and chaired by Nguyen Van Giau.

Giau said the State Bank of Vietnam is a part of government but under 2010 Law on State Bank of Vietnam, the SBV still has its certain independence and self-control in policy navigation.

Giau said the SBV has built and implemented the roadmap of releasing information to the mass media, confirming the importance and necessity of information disclosure with monetary regulator’s activities.

Regarding to money policy this year, Giau shared that tightening policy likely heavily affects business and investments but it helps tame inflation. Vietnam’s current outstanding loans are equal to 120% GDP, much higher than other countries. However, the governor believed the rate will fall when the capital market develops.

The Vietnamese government has tightened policy since February by cutting down ten percent of its fiscal spending, raising rates and clipping its credit growth target to counter inflation, Giau reported.

ADB Country Director to Vietnam Ayumi Konishi said the Vietnamese government has issued correct measures to curb inflation, however, policies will take time to be proved efficiency. Vietnam should consistently implement the set measures to curb inflation, despite the fact that some businesses may face difficulties in borrowing capital from banks.

Inflation control in the regional countries, including Vietnam, will be discussed in the sessions of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s 44th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors. Besides, a wide range of issues will be discussed, including food security, the economic growth model, coping with instability of the hot money, infrastructure development and sustainable growth, Giau said.

Vietnam is one of ADB’s 67 members. This is the first time that the country hosts the ADB annual meeting during its 45 years of ADB membership.

Vietnam is one of the biggest ADB-funded receivers, mostly in the areas of infrastructure development, social security, healthcare and alleviation of poverty. ADB pledged to grant Vietnam 1.3 billion U.S. dollars per year besides supporting the country to expand other modes of lending to achieve the goals of sustainable growth and comprehensive infrastructure development, Giau said.  -Stoxplus.com

Tags: Vietnam banking industry, Vietnam finance, Vietnam financial, Vietnam Forex reserve