Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at at the ongoing fourth session of the 15th National Assembly. (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the ongoing fourth session of the 15th National Assembly (NA), she said the situation this year has witnessed considerablechanges and many more difficulties compared to the Government’s forecast madein late 2021.
Inflation is soaring around the world, with more than 80countries recording inflation of at least double digits. The US Federal Reserve(FED) has hiked interest rates and is expected to maintain them high. The strongappreciation of the US dollar has led to the depreciation of many othercurrencies, some of which have lost about 30% of their value. The foreignexchange reserves of many countries have fallen sharply. All such developmentshave caused great difficulties for central banks in the world, according toHong.
In Vietnam, recent developments in the corporate bond, realestate, and stock markets have substantially affected monetary and bankingactivities. Meanwhile, the monetary policy is tasked with many duties toachieve multiple targets. Even when global interest rates have been surging,the SBV was still assigned to reduce the domestic rates by 0.5 - 1% in 2022 and2023, which is a highly tough task in the current context, she noted.
The Governor emphasised that in the first nine monthsof 2022, the SBV closely monitored macro-economic changes and took flexible andconcerted actions depending on each point of time, thus helping keep thenine-month inflation at 2.73% and the whole-year figure possibly at under 4%,which is much lower than in other countries in the region and the world andalso a contributor to this year’s economic growth.
She said Vietnam has been extensively and intensivelyintegrating into the world while the openness of its economy is great, sochanges in the global market will have considerable and inevitable impacts onthe country’s monetary and forex markets.
Giventhis, Vietnam should be ready to respond to all changes, Hong went on, addingthat it is important to make assessment frequently to identify focuses andobjectives for each period of time.
Shehighlighted the consistent target of controlling inflation, stabilising themacro-economy, and guaranteeing the banking system’s safety to realise socio-economicdevelopment goals./.
VNA
