Vietnam Govt Statistics Officials Blame Monetary Factors for High CPI
Up to 4.65% of Vietnam’s total consumer price index increase of 11.75% in 2010 has derived from the monetary factors, the Thoi bao Kinh te online newspaper reported, citing officials from the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO).
Do Thuc, general director of the GSO, attributed that inflation was originated from imbalances between money and goods supply, which have been lasting for so many years.
The general director, however, gave no comments on whether monetary policies work effectively or not, saying that growth of money supply has constantly exceeded the expansion rate of GDP since 2007 and this difference will likely expand further.
The office’s Deputy General Director Nguyen Bich Lam has echoed with Thuc’s view, adding that a huge inflow of foreign capitals to Vietnam in 2010 forced the country’s central bank to boost up buying U.S. dollar to keep the forex rates stable.
This added more pressures on the local currency and inflation is unavoidable since Vietnam’s economic growth currently depends heavily on investment and exports, Lam said.
At a meeting held by the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policy on December 25, Governor Nguyen Van Giau of the State Bank of Vietnam refuted monetary policy as a contributing factor of high inflation.
Vietnam’s National Assembly has set a GDP growth target of between 7% and 7.5% for this year, compared to 6.78% last year, while the consumer price index will be kept below 7%. (VnEconomy)
Vietnamese
