Vietnam Central Bank Keeps Prime Rate Unchanged at 7 per cent for June

The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, has said on its Web site that the base interest rate would be at 7.0 per cent per annum for June, unchanged for a fourth month after it halved borrowing costs between October and February to support economic growth amid global downturn.

 

The refinancing and discount rates are 7.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent/year, respectively, the SBV said.

 

Meanwhile, the overnight rate in the inter-bank electronic payment and the rate of loans to finance short balances in clearing transactions between SBV and commercial banks is 7.0 per cent per year.

 

Governor Nguyen Van Giau of the SBV has recently affirmed that the central bank did not plan to hike prime rate in the next time, refusing all predictions raised by analysts on a possibility that the Southeast Asian country will devaluate the dong against U.S. dollar.

 

Vietnam has devalued its currency twice since December 25 last year to help boost exports, a deputy governor said, attributing reasons of fever on the domestic grey market: psychological factor and hoarding greenbacks by firms.

 

At present, the country is estimated to have forex reserves of US$20 billion, sufficient to offset its payment balance. (SBV)