Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Le Minh Hung (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s net purchase of foreign currenciesexceeded 11 billion USD in the first half of 2018, increasing the nation’sforeign exchange reserves to approximately 63.5 billion USD.
The figureswere announced by SBV Governor Le Minh Hung at an online conference between theGovernment and localities held in Hanoi on July 2.
He said theSBV has carried out a flexible currency policy to stabilise the averageinterest rate. The average lending interest rate was reduced by 0.5 percent overthe January-June period.
Meanwhile,credit grew approximately 6.9 percent from 2017, with its structure occupiedmainly by those lent to the processing-manufacturing sector (16.3 percent) andrural agriculture (21 percent), as well as small- and medium-sized businesses(nearly 7.1 percent).
Hungstressed that the credit structure has been shifting towards supporting thedevelopment of special production areas like export, rural farming, and the processing-manufacturingindustry.
He addedthat over the past six months, the SBV also sped up the handling of bad debt,recording a positive outcome.
He saidrecent increase in the foreign exchange rate was predictable as the US FederalReserve (Fed) pushed up its interest rates and the dollar appreciated ininternational markets.
Hung statedthat the SBV is willing to interfere in the local foreign exchange market ifsupply-demand problems arise. The interference is to stabilise the exchangerate and prevent macro-economic risks, he noted. -VNA
VNA
