Dong-dollar rate increase will not exceed 2 per cent. — Photo baohaiquan.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and US dollar will not increase more than 2 per cent in 2014.

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh said on Tuesday that SBV will consider adjusting the rate flexibly in order to support exports and ensure the macro- economy balance, without greatly affecting the inflation rate. He was speaking at an online conference between the government and localities on Tuesday.

In June, the SBV increased the inter-bank average VND/US$ exchange rate by 1 per cent to VND21.036 per US dollar, while allowing the market to adjust 1 per cent more. In fact, even during the most difficult times and despite false rumours, the market had not adjusted the rate by 1 per cent.

At present, the inter-bank exchange rate is lower than that of commercial banks. So, the SBV has bought a large amount of foreign currency for reserves, said Binh.

He added that the country's credit growth has reached 9.5 per cent and is expected to be more than 10 per cent by the end of this year.

Credit institutions have restructured about VND330 trillion (US$15.7 billion) in debts, equivalent to 10 per cent of outstanding debts, for businesses.

The credit institutions have repaid VND70 trillion ($3.33 billion) of bad debts from their risk provision fund. The Vietnam Asset Management Company has so far bought bad debts worth VND32 trillion ($1.5 billion), which will be worth VND35 trillion by the end of the year. — VNS