SBV states that the national economy does not lack dollars, but in fact, businesses have not been able to purchase dollars for many months. What is the problem?

Second, the interest rate subsidy programme has brought the side effect: enterprises prefer borrowing money in VND to enjoy lower interest rates, while keeping dollars, hoping to earn profit from further dollar price increases.

Why does the dollar shortage remain serious, if the causes have been identified?

- I have to say that Vietnam’s macroeconomic situation in the first months of the year improved considerably in comparison with the same period of last year with the inflation rate and trade deficit kept at low levels. The State Bank has been implementing comprehensive measures to stabilise the market, while making public the policies pursued by the central bank, so that people can understand better about the country’s situation.

However, it always takes time to see a policy brought to life and show efficiency in the national economy.

Do you think that the central bank just needs to provide more dollars to the market to ease the pressure on the dollar supply?

-  A lot of people have asked why the State Bank of Vietnam does not sell more dollars to increase the dollar supply on the market. However, I have to say that when considering implementing any policies, we should strive for the sustainability of the international payment balance as the priority, especially as Vietnam has always had more imports than exports in the last 23 years. In other words, policy makers need to act for the sake of the whole economy. Foreign currencies involve the whole economy, not only several tens or hundreds of import companies.

However, haven’t businesses’ operations stagnated due to the dollar shortage?

-  It is true that difficulties still exist in the foreign currency market. However, commercial banks are still able to provide enough foreign currencies to import essential goods for production.

I have to say that though the Government does not encourage the import of the products which can be sourced from domestic materials, enterprises still import the products, and import luxury products.

 Businesses complain that the measures taken recently by the State Bank of Vietnam to tighten the foreign currency market have not helped, and even have forced them to pay more to get foreign currencies.

- These are not new policies, they are just measures to force businesses to follow the promulgated policies.

Businesses should think of borrowing dollars as US$ loans now have very low interest rates of 3-3.5 percent only. Or they should think of diversifying the currencies used in payment. For example, while dealing with Japanese partners, they should think of using Japanese Yen.

We have found out that the foreign currency outstanding loans have increased again, which shows the adaptability and dynamism of both banks and businesses.

Should businesses borrow dollars just because of the overly high prices of the dollar?

-  They should borrow dollars because this is a reasonable choice. The foreign currency interest rates are at low levels, while the Government has confirmed it will keep the exchange rate stable and the inflation rate at 6-7 percent.

 Why doesn’t the State Bank of Vietnam narrow the official exchange rate and exchange rate on the black market?

-  As I said before, the State Bank of Vietnam has been implementing economic measures and doing necessary moves to stabilise the market. We cannot loosen the management until the exchange rate is floated, while this will not happen in the near future.

I think that we need to reconsider the behaviour of some export companies, which got preferences in borrowing money to export, but do not sell foreign currencies to banks when they earned foreign currencies.

Do you think that the trading band loosening has made people think that the dollar will continue increasing?

- The State Bank believes that the current exchange rate is reasonable. It can control inflation, while the dollar is tending to decrease in the world’s market.

In the current circumstances, the VND revaluation may bring bad effects. It is uncertain if this can help reduce the trade deficit, but it is certain that this will make the burden of paying foreign debts heavier.

Nguồn: Vietnamnet