Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves hit US$63.5 billion

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s net purchase of foreign currencies exceeded US$11 billion in the first half of 2018, increasing the nation’s foreign exchange reserves to approximately US$63.5 billion.

Vietnam’s foreign reserves are now estimated at US$63.5 billion.
Vietnam’s foreign reserves are now estimated at US$63.5 billion.

The figures were announced by SBV Governor Le Minh Hung at an online conference between the Government and localities held in Hanoi on July 2.

He added that the average lending interest rate was reduced by 0.5 percentage point over the January-June period while credit grew approximately 6.9% from 2017.

Hung stressed that the credit structure has been shifting towards supporting the development of special production areas like export, rural farming, and the processing-manufacturing industry.

The governor added that over the past six months, the central bank also sped up the handling of bad debt and recorded positive results.

He said the recent increase in the foreign exchange rate was predictable as the result of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.

Hung stated that the SBV is willing to interfere in the local foreign exchange market if supply-demand problems arise.