Central bank buys $4.9B to pump up foreign exchange reserves

It bought nearly $1 billion last month alone, Ministry of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said at a meeting Friday.

VNDirect analysts forecast that Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves could increase to $102 billion by the end of this year.

Dung also reported to the government on other key economic indicators.

The Consumer Price Index in the first four months rose 3.84% year-on-year, lower than the first quarter’s 4.18%.

Core inflation in April increased by 4.56% year-on-year.

Corporate bond issuance value dropped 67% year-on-year in the first four months to VND25.7 trillion ($1.09 billion).

Trade value in the period fell over 15% to $102 billion, and the country posted a trade surplus of $6.35 billion.

“The economy still faces risks and unpredictable changes from the slow recovery of large economic partners,” Dung said, adding that high inflation globally and tightened monetary policy would bring difficulties to local businesses.

To reach the GDP growth target of 6.5% this year, taxes and fees need to be reduced, along with interest rates.

Average loan interest is now at 9.56% a year, down 0.41 percentage points from the end of 2022.

Untying knots in the property sector and simply business administrative procedures are also need, Dung added.