Central bank responds to US Treasury labelling Vietnam as currency manipulator

Dec 17th at 11:07
17-12-2020 11:07:29+07:00

Central bank responds to US Treasury labelling Vietnam as currency manipulator

Vietnam gives priority to a stable and sustainable trade-economic relation with the US, and will continue to work towards a harmonious and fair-trade relations under the bilateral action plan, stated the country’s central bank.

Vietnam’s main objective of its foreign-exchange policy is to control inflation and stabilize the macro-economy, not for unfair trade gains, said the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on December 17.

The State Bank of Vietnam refutes US claim that Vietnam is gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade.

The statement came one day after the US Treasury labeled Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators, along with adding three new names, including Taiwan, Thailand and India in  a watch list of countries it suspects of deliberately devaluing  their currencies against the dollar.

Others on the list include China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Malaysia.

Under its semi-annual currency manipulation report, the Treasury stated Vietnam had acted to gain “unfair competitive advantage in international trade as well.”

The US uses three criteria to determine if a country is a currency manipulator. Besides the current account surplus criterion, two other criteria are a bilateral goods trade surplus with the US of at least US$20 billion; and intervention in the foreign-exchange market that exceeds at least 2% of GDP.

However, from SBV’s point of view, Vietnam’s trade and current account balances favorable to Vietnam with surpluses with the US are “result of factors related to the characteristics of the Vietnamese economy.”

The SBV’s decision to buy in foreign currencies recently was aimed at ensuring the smooth operation of the foreign exchange market amid an abundant of foreign currency supply.

“The move would help contribute to stabilizing Vietnam’s macro-economic conditions and build up the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which remains low compared to other countries in the region and to keep the national financial security intact.”

“Vietnam gives priority to a stable and sustainable trade-economic relation with the US,” stated the bank, adding it will continue to work with its US peers to address issues of shared concern towards a harmonized and fair-trade relations under the bilateral action plan.

In parallel with such efforts, the SBV continues to manage the foreign exchange policy to keep the inflation under control and a stable macro-economy, in turn supporting economic growth.

“The decision-making process is based on the market situation and objectives of the monetary policy, not to create unfair trade gains,” stressed the SBV.

Hanoi Times





RELATED STOCK CODE (1)

NEWS SAME CATEGORY

Race for digital banking transformation heats up

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed customers’ behavior and perception regarding digital banking services.

Embracing sustainable finance efforts

ASEAN member states are actively increasing efforts on developing policies, initiatives, and incentives to encourage development of the sustainable finance agenda...

Diversifying local consumer finance

Consumer finance companies in Vietnam are seeking new approaches to diversify their funding sources and their indirect loan portfolios, as well as lower credit and...

Vietnam banks promotes loans with low interest rates by year-end

Given abundant liquidity and low demand for credit, banks are offering attractive loans during the year-end period.

Consumers benefit from accelerated banking digitalisation amid COVID-19

While the pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to economic activities and societies across the globe, it does bring some positive effects, one of which is...

Vietnam finance ministry releases state budget estimate for 2021

The release of these figures is a key step in promoting transparency and publicity of Vietnam’s state budget.

Manulife to become VietinBank’s exclusive insurance partner with Aviva purchase

Canadian insurer Manulife will acquire the Vietnamese business of British company Aviva and its 16-year bancassurance deal with VietinBank.

Non-bank lending an emerging solution

Non-deposit-taking lenders are becoming an optimal solution for smaller enterprises that cannot access bank loans, as well as a crucial factor to improve the supply...

Successful extraordinary general meeting for SCB

SCB last week successfully held its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for 2020.

Standard Chartered Vietnam launches 24/7 instant interbank transfers

Standard Chartered Vietnam today announced the launch of its 24/7 instant interbank transfer service on SCPay, its new cloud-native global payments platform...

Bank stocks

Insurance stocks


MOST READ


Back To Top