A customer buys US dollars at a VIB Bank branch in Ha Noi. The country's foreign exchange reserves have reached US$35 billion. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The State Bank of Viet Nam received US$10 billion in the first four months of 2014, raising the total foreign reserves to $35 billion, Governor Nguyen Van Binh announced.

Binh also added in the Government's April meeting that if taking into account the potential, the reserves probably amounted to $45 billion. Larger reserves are believed to help stabilise foreign exchange rates.

The money supply in Viet Nam's banking system at the end of April was an estimated 4.18 per cent, Binh noted without stating a figure.

Remittance in three months was about $2.3 billion. Last year, Viet Nam was among the top 10 remittance recipients with $11 billion, and it is likely to stay robust this year, according to the World Bank's latest issue of the Migration and Development Brief.

The money supply growth rate was lower than the same period last year, which experts blamed on a decline in total demand. However, the governor of the central bank rejected the rumour, adding that the figure simply reflected the current economic situation.

Binh, again without stating a figure, noted that in the first four months of 2014, total deposits at banks increased to 3.41 per cent from the end of last year, or increased to 5.1 per cent against the same period last year. — VNS