On 11th April, 2019 at Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, Vietnam Institute of Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), VNU University of Economics and Research held a seminar on "Macroeconomic Report of the First Quarter of 2019". VEPR's quarterly macroeconomic report series is supported by Konrad-Adenauer Institute (KAS).
Since 2016, the VEPR started to publish the quarterly macro-economic report
to update and discuss current issues in a timely manner. These seminars attracted
ideas from experts in the field as well as mass media.
The seminar was attended by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen
Duc Thanh - Director of VEPR, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham The Anh - Chief Economist of
VEPR together with experts: Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu; Dr. Pham Van Dai and press
agencies.
Opening the seminar, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duc
Thanh gave a welcome speech. He praised the efforts of VEPR’s team in preparing
the quarterly economic report as well as his hope for a better economic
situation in Vietnam in the next quarter of 2019.
In the report, it was clearly stated that after
the ending of US - China trade war and the Fed decided not to raise interest
rates, the USD selling price of banks remained stable. The central exchange
rate of the State Bank increased slightly from the beginning of the fourth
quarter in 2018 to the end of the first quarter in 2019. Specifically, the
exchange rate of 31st March 2019 reached 22,976 VND/USD, rose nearly
1% compared to that in 2018.
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh recommended that
monetary policy should adapt in time with economic fluctuations. The top
priority is to manage the exchange rate flexibly, to absorb the impact of external
shocks.
Interest rates should be kept stably, enabling
businesses to access capital markets, especially for growing industries and having
potential to participate in global value chains. Inflation in the first quarter
of 2019 remained stable but had the tendency to rise facing the recent price adjustments
in electricity and gasoline. The impact of these changes may last for months,
which requires prudent management from the State Bank on money supply and
credit in the coming time.
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