Central bank unveils monetary policy for second half of 2019

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will continue to follow a pro-active, flexible and cautious monetary policy as well as working in close conjunction with fiscal and other policies to control inflation, sustain the macro-economy and support economic growth in the second half of this year.
Central bank unveils monetary policy for second half of 2019 ảnh 1Customers make transaction at Bao Viet Bank in Hanoi’s Tran Hung Dao Street.(Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - TheState Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will continue to follow a pro-active, flexible andcautious monetary policy as well as working in close conjunction with fiscaland other policies to control inflation, sustain the macro-economy and supporteconomic growth in the second half of this year.

SBV Deputy GovernorNguyen Thi Hong made the statement at a conference in Hanoi on June 13 toreview the SBV’s monetary policy in the first half of 2019 and announce its keyorientations for the second half of the year.

Pham Thanh Ha, Directorof the SBV’s Monetary Policy Department, said the SBV would help stabilisethe monetary market through the use of open market operation (OMO)measures to regulate liquidity among credit institutions.

At the same time, thecentral bank would also regulate the interest rate and USD/VNĐ exchange ratepolicies in line with the Government’s targets and market movements, Ha said,adding the SBV would take intervention measures when necessary to stabilise thelocal foreign currency market.

According to the SBV, byJune 6, the central bank’s USD/VNĐ daily reference exchange rate rose by 1.03 percentagainst the end of 2018 to 23,060 VND per US dollar. The dollar meanwhile waslisted at 23,355 VND for buying and 23,475 VND for selling at Vietcombank, up0.86 percent and 0.99 percent against end-2018, respectively.


Assessing the monetary policy management in the first half of 2019, Hong saidthe monetary policy was effective, contributing to controlling inflation,stabilising the macro-economy and supporting economic growth.

According to the SBV, inthe context of global uncertainty and local inflation, the managing of interestrates and exchange rates was positive and in accordance with macro-economicdevelopment. The liquidity of the banking system was good while the operationof the inter-bank market was also smooth.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, Directorof the SBV’s Credit Department, reported that total means of payment until June10 this year increased by 5.17 percent against the end of 2018.

This year, the centralbank targets a 13 percent increase of total means of payment and credit growthof 14 percent, but adjustments could be made.

“The credit growth inthe period expanded by 5.75 percent, with focus on the Government’s fiveprioritised sectors of agriculture, exports, spare-parts industries, small- andmedium-sized enterprises, and hi-tech firms, while limiting the capital torisky industries,” Hung stated.

According to the SBV,the credit growth to date has been reasonable and positive with a focus onproduction and business, which has contributed to the restructuring of theagricultural sector as well as the development of fishery and spare-partsindustries as well as small- and medium-sized firms, export and high-techfirms.

At the event, Nguyen TrongDu, Deputy Chief  Inspector of the SBV’sBanking Supervision Agency, said that credit institutions cleaned up 907.33trillion VND (38.87 billion USD) of non-performing loans (NPLs) from 2012 tothe end of the first quarter 2019, of which 163.14 trillion VND (6.98 billionUSD) worth was settled in 2018 alone.

“With the results, thetotal NPL ratio of the entire banking system, excluding NPLs sold to the VietnamAsset Management Company (VAMC), was at 2.02 percent by the end of March; andthe value, including NPLs sold to the VAMC was 5.88 percent,” Du said.-VNA
VNA

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