 “The pressure on inflation still remains and there are still some factors that will cause inflation to quicken toward the end of the year,” Tien said in an interview in While the economy will continue to face challenges, the central bank and government have pursued policies to achieve growth of 5.5 percent and keep inflation at about 6.5 percent this year, he said. The country joined nations from Tien forecast measures to clean up banks will contain bad debt at less than 5 percent of total loans at the end of the year, from 7.8 percent in December 2012. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung may approve in June a central bank proposal to raise the caps for foreign investment in local banks, he said. Foreign caps Higher foreign ownership caps in lenders may be allowed on a case-by-case basis, Tien said. The regulator has no plans to inject cash directly into lenders even as it prepares to set up an asset management company to acquire bad debt, the deputy governor said. Banks’ liquidity conditions are “very good,” he said. While new bad debt may increase because of economic difficulties, measures to clean up banks will keep non- performing loans at acceptable levels, Tien said. The Vietnamese dong is stable and will fluctuate less than a targeted 3 percent this year, he said. The country will consider adding to its gold reserves after it eliminates speculators of the metal in the domestic market, the deputy governor said. The State Bank of “The government will be consistent in pursuing its goal of maintaining macroeconomic stability,” the central bank said in written answers prepared separately in response to Bloomberg’s questions. Bloomberg |
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