HANOI, May 6 (NNN-VNA) – Vietnam’s central bank, has bought around six billion U.S. dollars since the beginning of the year, to boost its foreign exchange reserves, the Vietnam Banks Association’s newspaper reported today.
A proactive and flexible monetary policy and stable exchange rate, allowed the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to continue its purchases of foreign currencies, said SBV Governor, Nguyen Thi Hong, at a regular meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in Hanoi.
Last year, Vietnam was forced to sell about 20 billion U.S. dollars, to support the domestic currency, after the dong fell to a record low, following aggressive interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to market analysts.
The central bank rarely discloses the size of its foreign reserves. In late 2021, it put the holdings at record highs of around 100 billion U.S. dollars.
Vietnam posted a wider year-on-year trade surplus of 6.35 billion U.S. dollars, and a slight decline of 1.2 percent in actual foreign direct investment inflows, to 5.85 billion U.S. dollars, in the Jan-Apr period.
The central bank said, it will manage monetary policies in a flexible and proactive way, and in line with Vietnam’s macroeconomic conditions and international markets.– NNN-VNA
