BUSINESS IN BRIEF 26/5
Waste
treatment plants await investors
HCMC is calling for
financially-capable investors to develop a waste-to-power plant capable of
processing 2,000 tons of garbage daily and a toxic waste treatment plant of
the same capacity.
These are two out
of 41 priority programs and projects in 2013-2015 as part of the climate
change response scheme that the city’s government approved late last week.
The waste-to-power
plant requires an estimated cost of some US$280 million while the toxic waste
treatment plant needs about US$100 million.
HCMC discharges
7,500 tons of waste a day but there have been no waste-to-power plants for
the city up to now, said Nguyen Trung Viet, chief officer of the municipal
Climate Change Adaptation Department. Many investors have sought permission
to invest in such projects in the city but no schemes have been deployed due
to capital shortage or unsuitable technology, Viet said.
The city now has
only a few waste treatment facilities that are fitted with gas recovery
equipment for power generation like Da Phuoc, Go Cat, Dong Thanh and Phuoc
Hiep.
Besides the
aforesaid facilities, the local government has approved a plan and an action
program on climate change response in the city by 2015. Under the program,
several much-needed projects have been designed, including piloting biogas
power generation from waste at wholesale markets, inspecting greenhouse gas
emissions, and building a regulation reservoir in Go Dua in Thu Duc District
among others.
Inflation in
The research shows
that in all five-year periods between 1991 and 2012,
The research
conducted by Dao Van Hung, Nguyen Thac Hoat and their colleagues at the
Inflation in
From 1986 to 2012,
there were 13 years and four five-year periods in which inflation in
Even when compared
with
In the period from
2008 to 2012,
From 1991 to 2010,
the annual economic growth in
Ho wondered: “How
come their growth is twice as much as ours and inflation only a half?”
Pointing at the
chart of inflation in 1992-2012 shown at the workshop, Nguyen Thac Hoat said:
“The inflation line fluctuates widely, the peak is sharp and the amplitude is
large. All of these reveal that inflation in
Deputy Minister of
Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh said rampant inflation in
Other nations can
offer low lending rates because the macroeconomic risks are small.
After the policies
aimed at curbing inflation have been adopted for quite a long time,
enterprises now no longer want to do business and consumers no longer want to
spend, he remarked.
“Given current high
lending rates and poor consumption, enterprises deposit their money in banks
to enjoy interest sums rather than making investment and doing business. Such
a trend is very dangerous,” he stressed.
As one of the main
authors of the Government’s economic development plans, Sinh wondered how to
find financial resources to prop up the economy, especially when the credit
growth target of 12%, equivalent to VND360 trillion, for this year is unattainable.
Economists said the
most ideal inflation for the period from now to 2015 should be 7-7.5%. They
suggested there should be an independent agency to carry out the fiscal and
monetary policies in coordination with the central bank and the Ministry of
Finance.
SOEs reform
is too slow
It would be hard to
accelerate the reform of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in
According to the
Ministry of Planning and Investment, only 27 State-owned companies had been
restructured nationwide from last year to March with 16 entities going
public.
Besides, many State
conglomerates will delay their equitization plans until after 2015, says a
report of the planning ministry at the seminar “Sharing experiences on
improving criteria and list of classifying State enterprises” in
As much as 76
companies will delay equitization plans until after 2015, including 61 provincial
firms and 15 subsidiaries of groups and corporations, the ministry reports.
The Prime Minister
has already approved 99 out of 101 projects which are designed to arrange and
renovate State-run entities in the 2012-2015 period so far, said Le Manh Hung,
deputy head of the Agency for Business Development under the ministry. As of
the end of last month, the Prime Minister ratified restructuring schemes of
six out of nine economic giants and ten of 12 members of 91 corporations.
However, the fact
shows that the plans are being deployed in a slow manner.
Ho Sy Hung, head of
the business development agency, posed the question of why State-owned giants
in the paper, textile and aviation industries have still failed to carry out
their equitization plans. He wondered if related policies are unsuitable for
the activities.
An executive of the
Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) with up to 206 corporate members, raised
concerns that the execution of the restructuring plan of his entity that was
given approval from the Prime Minister would be really tough to achieve.
“Recently, it has
been very difficult to deploy equitization or withdraw capital from non-core
business sectors. Plenty of PVN affiliates have been unable to divest or
recover their capital,” the executive said. In fact, executives of these
entities are afraid of losing State capital but they find it impossible to
secure the sum by either maintaining or transferring the stakes they hold at
non-core business areas, he added.
Restructuring SOEs
now is only moving at a snail’s pace, according to a recent report of the
National Assembly.
Farmers shy
away from shrimp farming despite good price
Rising demand from
foreign markets and local undersupply are said to have fueled up prices of
unprocessed shrimp in the Mekong Delta recently but farmers have still been
indifferent to resuming shrimp farming in the region.
Prices of shrimp
materials have rebounded markedly in recent days thanks to the global
market’s recovery while harvest volume has fallen and failed to achieve the
targets, said Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association
of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
VASEP has yet to
obtain the latest information on shrimp exports of local enterprises from
customs agencies but Hoe affirmed the price hikes indicate the improving
demand in foreign markets as well as a decline in material supply at home.
“The mortality rate
at shrimp farming areas in
As Thailand and
Vietnam are the two major shrimp suppliers of Japan, the Northeast Asian
nation has shifted to purchasing Vietnamese shrimp given the current
widespread shrimp death in Thailand, he remarked.
Speaking with the
Daily, Kich noted that now is not the peak consumption season in importing
countries, but the number of export contracts that Cafatex has sealed since
last month has risen strongly over the same period last year.
Prices of shrimp
materials, including tiger shrimp and white-legged shrimp, have soared by
over 20% against last year, he informed.
Vo Hong Ngoan, a
veteran shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu, said frozen tiger shrimp now is priced at
around VND250,000 a kilo for the 20-shrimp type and VND200,000-220,000 a kilo
for the 30-shrimp category.
“Some traders even
buy live shrimp at up to VND300,000 a kilo for the category of 30 shrimp at
certain times,” he added.
Though shrimp
material prices have picked up strongly over the year-ago period which is
expected to bring in lucrative profits, farmers are still indifferent and
have yet to resume farming.
Nguyen Van Nhiem,
chairman of the My Thanh Shrimp Association in Soc Trang, said shrimp prices
in the province have stayed high but local farmers are hesitant to do the job
owing to financial constraints and epidemic outbreak concerns. Member farmers
have resumed farming in only 450 hectares out of 2,600 hectares under shrimp
cultivation of the association.
Firm hand
on asset tiller buoys market
The market was
given a boost after the Prime Minister approved the establishment of a
national asset management corporation (VAMC), which helped maintain the
uptrend on both stock exchanges during yesterday's session.
The State-owned
corporation, with an initial charter capital of VND500 billion (US$23.8 million),
will be responsible for handling bad debts held by credit institutions and is
set to begin operations from July 9 this year.
The VN-Index on the
HCM City Stock Exchange gained 0.41 per cent to finish the session at 502.23
points.
The market volume
was down 25 per cent from the previous session, however, totalling nearly 67
million shares, while the value of trades decreasing 30 per cent to VND1.086
trillion (US$51.7 million).
Blue chips were
mixed. Among the top 30 shares by market capitalisation and liquidity, 13
advanced while 12 declined, lifting the VN30 up just 0.23 per cent on 566.79
points.
Vinh Son-Song Hinh
Hydro-power (VSH) surprised the market to become the most active code on the
southern bourse with 3.53 million shares changing hands. VSH climbed over 2
per cent at VND14,700 ($0.70) a share.
On the Ha Noi Stock
Exchange, the HNX-Index grew 1.56 per cent to a close on 62.59 points.
Trading value also increased 20 per cent over the previous session, totalling
over VND511.3 billion ($24.3 million).
A sudden rise on
both markets on Tuesday made many investors cautious over the sustainability
of an uptrend, but according to stock analysts at Viet Nam Investment
Securities Co, as liquidity remained high yesterday, investors felt more
confident in the market.
"Cash flow
shifted to the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday as investors sought profits
from speculative stocks which have not increased much over the past
time," analysts wrote in a note.
Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank
(SHB) was the most active code on the northern bourse on huge trades of 18.9
million shares, edging up nearly 3 per cent to settle at VND7,200 a share.
Other speculative
stocks such as Sacomreal (SCR) and PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) also saw
active trades with each having from 5.4-6.8 million shares exchanged. SCR
rose 1.3 per cent to VND7,900 while PVX climbed 5.8 per cent to VND5,500.
Foreign investors
were also net buyers yesterday on both exchanges, picking up shares worth a
combined VND47.5 billion ($2.3 million).
State Audit
reports on SBV performance in 2011
The State Bank of
This was according
to the online newspaper VnEconomy which quoted the State Audit's report on
the State Bank's performance in 2011.
However, the State
Audit said the central bank management must be held responsible for lending
growth failing to reach its target and bad debts continuing to rise since
2007.
The State Bank's
inspection and supervision on refinance loans was also referred to as
"untimely" or "incomplete".
The State Audit
said that some commercial banks borrowing refinancing loans had violated regulations
on capital adequacy but the central bank did not warn, prevent and handle the
matter quickly enough. For example, the Northern Asia Bank, Trust Bank
violated the ratio in the first nine months of 2011, but the State Bank only
started supervising their activities in late November.
The State Bank's
management on the interbank market also was "limited", and it could
not control unusually high interbank rates. The State Audit commented on an
incident in February 2011 when the interbank rate surged to 30 per cent a
year, and up to 37.5 per cent in November against deposit rate cap of only 14
per cent at that time.
As for commercial
banks, the State Audit said most had followed legal regulations on lending
and credit growth. However, some banks had gathered and finished legal and
economic documents before lending was incomplete. Control before, during and
after lending was not strict.
In cases where
banks classified loans inappropriately, the State Audit asked the Bank for
Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) and the Mekong Housing Bank
(MHB) to make the necessary adjustments.
Some lenders had
high overdue debts on the interbank market. For example, MHB's outstanding
deposits at the end of 2011 at other credit institutions was VND11.73
trillion (US$558.94 million), of which overdue deposits that must be renewed
reached VND1.15 trillion ($55.1 million) and more than $4 million in total.
The State Audit
said trading in the forex market of some commercial banks had not followed
the rules while some had violated interest rate cap regulations.
The US Department
of Commerce (DoC) has decided to increase anti-dumping duties on tra fish
imported from Viet Nam by an additional US$0.52 to $1.29 per kilo, said the
Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Association
secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said the tax hike was made after the
In March, the
On a brighter note,
The regulation has
been applied to all kinds of shrimps imported from
The ban led to a
close watch on the industry – from shrimp breeding to final processing – by
However, experts
believe
To push up the
export turnover of seafood to the Japanese market, deputy director of the
Department of Fisheries Nguyen Huy Dien said localities needed to further
focus on preventing shrimp diseases.
In addition, Dien
said it was also necessary to pass on shrimp raising methods that ensured low
Ethoxyquin content, an anti-oxidant substance popularly used in preserving
aquatic feed.
In the first four
months of this year,
Low
inflation keystone for growth
Single-digit
inflation should be maintained for three coming years to achieve the economic
growth target, experts said at a Tuesday conference held by the
Nguyen Thac Hoat
from the academy said in the economic downturn, the inflation rate in the
2013-15 period should be controlled at about 7-7.5 per cent.
This is to allow
gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at an average of 6.5-7 per cent per year
as targeted by the National Assembly.
A report at the
conference said that economic growth and inflation in
Statistics showed
that in 2004-06, inflation was within 7-9.5 per cent and GDP growth at 8-8.5
per cent. However, in 2010-11, when inflation rocketed to double-digits, GDP
grew at only 6-6.8 per cent.
Experts said that
the country's economic growth relied too much on an increase in investment
during 2007-11. Together with the inefficient use of capital, it put pressure
on inflation to rise.
Hoat calculated
that when inflation exceeded the optimal threshold, an increase by 1 per cent
of inflation could lower economic growth by 0.0138 per cent.
Economist Luu Bich
Ho forecast economic growth at 5-6 per cent per year. He said that the
optimal inflation rate was between 7-8 per cent, but could be lowered to 5-6
per cent when the economy experienced higher growth.
According to
academy director Dao Van Hung, declining credit growth from 2011, despite a
slight increase in the the past two months (by 1.4 per cent by the end of
April) put impacts on the economic growth.
Inflation control
required co-ordination and consistency of financial and monetary policies,
Hung said. Tighter policies could help prevent inflation in the short term,
he stressed, but added that the risk of inflation return remained high.
Nguyen Thi Kim
Thanh, director of the Banking Strategy Institute, said the management of
investment capital should be enhanced to ensure efficiency.
VHG to
delist if restructuring fails
Beleaguered Viet
Han Investment and Production (VHG) would delist if its restructuring plan
failed, according to the company's recent annual meeting.
The board of
directors would assess the possibility of success of the restructure and, at
the same time, choose a reasonable time to delist, if necessary, so the
maximum benefits to shareholders would be assured.
The company has 25
million shares listed on the HCM City Stock Exchange.
Under the
restructuring plan, VHG will probably be split, merged or establish new
subsidiaries. It will have to transfer assets and shares in subsidiaries and
associates to other entities.
The company will
also settle and liquidate its projects, such as D'Evelyn Tower Da Nang,
D'Evelyn Beach Quang
Last year, it
planned to established a VND100 billion (US$4.7 million) limited liability
company to manage the rubber project. Previously in 2011, the company
invested 65 per cent in a VND100 billion partnership in the D'Evelyn Beach
Quang
Of the above
projects, the most expensive was D'evelyn Tower Da Nang, which was expected
to cost the company VND850 billion ($40.4 million). It was kicked off in 2010
and VHG has poured in VND108 billion ($5.1 million) so far.
Prior to the annual
shareholder meeting, the company had said it hoped the transfer of its
projects and assets would account for 50 per cent of this year's revenue.
VHG has targeted a
revenue of just VND200 billion ($9.5 million) for 2013. It also expects
losses would narrow to VND20 billion ($952,300) compared to VND36 billion
($1.7 million) last year. VHG shares closed yesterday at the ceiling price of
VND4,000 ($0.19).
US steel
producers make dumping claim
After welded steel
pipes and steel wire garment hangers, now welded stainless pressure pipe from
The Viet Nam
Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Monday said
three US stainless pipe producers - Bristol Metals LP, Felker Brothers Corp
and Outokumpu Stainless Pipe Inc- have filed a trade petition with the US
International Trade Commission (USITC) and the US Commerce Department (DOC)
seeking to impose anti-dumping duties against welded stainless pressure pipe
from Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Last year, imports
of steel pipe from
The petition
alleges dumping margins of 15 to 17 per cent for
The ITC will hold a
hearing on June 6 and make a preliminary determination by July 1, Bristol
Metals said.
The action marks
the third steel-related trade case against Vietnamese steel products filed in
the
In the past two
years, the domestic steel industry faced five anti-dumping lawsuits and two
anti-subsidy ones from the
However, US ITC
announced late last year that after investigation, it found welded
carbon-quality steel pipes imported from
According to Tran
Tuan Nghiep, director of Huu Lien Asia Corporation, a defendant in last
year's lawsuit against Viet Nam welded carbon-quality steel pipes, price
competition in the steel market is fierce and if Vietnamese steel is subject
to more and more anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs, it could lose an
important market.
Taxi
operations run riot in Hanoi
"This problem
is a type terrorism on our services." Khuat Viet Hung, head of the
Transportation Department said.
According to Hung,
it's easy to acquire a business permit and open a taxi companies. Many have
taken advantages of the situation to lie about their businesses and establish
a taxi company with only a few of cars, no offices or managers.
Some even have set
an income quota so their employees must find ways to meet the goal, leading
to bad services such overpricing or deliberately extending journey lengths.
There are about
1,000 such kind of taxis operating in
"The
authorities must be more responsible by conducting inspections and quickly
dealing with substandard companies." Hung said.
Nguyen Hoang Linh,
deputy head of Hanoi Department of Transport said they have developed
regulations for taxi services in
To deal with these
problems, the Hanoi Taxi Association plans to raise the fine from VND20
million (USD960) to VND50 million if their members are found out to have
cheated customers.
"We are
managing over 100 taxi companies in
Authorities
tighten control over state-owned enterprises
The newly issued
decree concerning Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) issued by the Ministry of
Industry and Trade stated that the group's CEO will be dismissed if he lets
the company suffer losses for two consecutive years.
EVN's chartered
capital as of December 31, 2012 reached USD7 billion, and the group has been
given the goal of earning a profit.
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade will be responsible for assigning EVN's CEO position and
will cancel the contract if the CEO fails to maintain the expected return on
equity or if he or she incurs losses for two consecutive years.
Both the CEO and
chairman will also be dismissed if EVN incurs "inexplicable
losses", and they will be required to pay compensation in accordance
with the law.
In return, EVN will
be given the authorisation to adjust the electricity prices within the
regulated price limits.
Previously, a new
decree was drafted to replace the decree 101 issued in 2009 addressing
state-owned enterprises, also stated that CEO of the corporation must go if
the mother company face losses for two consecutive years or was unable to
achieve expected return on equity.
The CEOs of
state-owned enterprises are to be sacked immediately if they fail to meet the
members' council's tasks, violate the council's decisions or let the company
fall into bankruptcy or refuse to file for bankruptcy if needed.
However, many CEOs
have been able to dodge the regulation by justifying their losses, saying
that they are a result of expansion or technology upgrades.
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade said the corporate regulations must indicate in detail the
requirements of CEO and that CEO terms must be no longer than five years
The city hopes to
earn over VND81 trillion (US$40 billion) in revenue, up 15 percent from last
year’s figure.
The local tourism
industry is gearing up for the upcoming 9th International Travel Expo Ho Chi
Minh City - ITE HCMC 2013 in September.
Sales promotion
months will be held from September to December, along with other activities
to improve the quality of tourism products and to lure more foreign visitors.
VietJetAir
launches HCMC-Buon Me Thuot route
During the
promotion a one-way ticket on one of the route’s seven flights each week will
cost just VND390,000.
The flight takes
off from
VietJetAir plans to
continue expanding its markets and will offer more domestic and international
flights in the future.
Following the start
of
Besides,
IMF positive
about
The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has made positive assessments on
A press release,
posted after IMF concluded the annual consultation mission to
It pointed out that
the country’s headline inflation reduced from double digits to about 7
percent year-on-year in March, while calm has return to the financial market
with the SBV’s efforts to provide liquidity and the merger of several small,
weak banks.
The achievements
gained during the macroeconomic and financial market stabilization in 2012
helped improve the credibility of the SBV with market participants, IMF
affirmed, noting that while headline inflation has come down, core inflation
(excluding basic food and energy) still remains high, limiting the room for
interest rate cut.
The fund suggested
the Vietnamese Government accelerate reforms in the banking and State-owned
enterprises sectors to reduce vulnerabilities and restore
The recent
stabilization gains need to be consolidated through appropriate macroeconomic
policies to further bolster international reserves and fiscal buffers, it
said.
At a recent
interview granted to the Vietnam Television, the IMF Mission Chief Alfred
Schipke also affirmed that Vietnam’s economic policy has rather succeeded in
restoring macroeconomic stability over the past more than one year, which is
reflected in the strong decline of headline inflation and the increasing
trust in domestic currency.
Regarding the gold
market, the IMF mission said that the SBV’s recent moves to manage the gold
market, including the rejection of the monetary intermediary role of gold,
help reduce fluctuations in the financial sector caused by gold speculation.
It also agreed with
the central bank’s measures to ban other banks from receiving deposits in
gold, saying that it is for the benefit of financial stabilization.
Vietnamese,
French businesses promote cooperation in national defence
French businesses
are interested in
They showed
interest at a meeting co-organized by the Vietnamese trade office in
Mayor of Neuilly Sur
Seine and Vietnamese ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung affirmed that there
are huge opportunities for French and Vietnamese businesses to promote
cooperation in economics and national defense in the context of growing
bilateral relations.
Major-General Tran
Trung Tin said this is the first time Vietnamese defense businesses have come
to
Rubber
exports fall sharply
Due to a sharp fall
in both volume and price in the first quarter of 2013, rubber exports earned
24.2 percent less than in the same period last year.
According to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), rubber exports in April
alone were estimated at 44,000 tonnes, worth US$610 million, down 12.9
percent in volume and 24.2 percent in turnover. The average rubber export
price was US$2,683 per tonne, down 8.7 percent from last year. The price of
SMR3L rubber in the first week of April was just US$2.780 per tonne, down 1.8
percent. As
Meanwhile, rubber
exports to
The world rubber
market’s outlook is grim, with reserves estimated at just 2.17 million tonnes
by 2014. Those at Thanh Dao - China’s largest rubber centre already hit a
record high level of 366,900 tonnes in mid- April while rubber prices in
Thailand, the world’s largest manufacturer, rubber prices dropped by 1.5
percent to US$2.84 per kilo by the end of April.
A rubber latex
export business owner says his company exports as much as 90 percent of total
output. If its products were sold in the country, they would have to pay 5
percent VAT.
Professor Nguyen
Viet Bac from the
The Vietnam Rubber
Association reports that raw rubber exports account for 87 percent of the
country’s total rubber output, often at low value-added prices.
The Central
Highland Steering Committee has a plan afoot to promote the intensive
processing and diversification of rubber products. Total rubber plantations
cover 242.810 hectares with an annual output reaching 165 - 170,000 tonnes,
lower than in the southeastern region.
The reason is the
Central Highlands has only invested in rubber latex factories. In Dak Lak
province, a newly-built rubber processing factory has a design capacity of
15,000 tonnes of latex while six existing factories produce only 40,000
tonnes of latex per year.
Many experts argue
that for the sustainable growth of the rubber sector, it is imperative to
draw up long-term contracts between processing businesses and retail
companies with fresh impetus given by the government under its incentives
policies.
Banks still
hold power over VND30-tril. package
While the HCMC
Department of Construction is making a list of budget and small-sized housing
projects to be offered to beneficiaries of the VND30-trillion subsidy package
next month, it is commercial banks that decide who can access these soft
loans.
A banker in the
group of five commercial banks selected to undertake the loans on Tuesday
told the Daily that lenders have the right to give loans to customers or not.
Customers’ solvency
will be the top priority during credit application assessment because banks
will have to set up reserve funds for future bad debts.
In this home loan
subsidy package, the central bank has forced commercial banks to deduct for
reserve funds at 0.75% of the total outstanding loans. Because the difference
between the central bank’s refinancing rate and the lending rate banks will
offer to customers is just 0.75%, banks are unable to compensate for costs.
If risks occur,
banks must have solutions to deal with the problems and deduct more for
reserve funds. Therefore, lenders will be very cautious in assessing credit
applications.
In other words, the
lower the income of a customers, the less possibility they will be offered
bank loans. Lenders will not take risks in giving loans to customers that may
not pay debts, the banker said.
Tran Trong Tuan,
director of the HCMC Department of Construction, said that investors have
registered to convert three commercial projects into budget home projects to
benefit from this package. The department expects to supply around 3,000
condos for the market this year.
Concerning
affordable commercial condos, the department will review each project and
negotiate with investors on a voluntary basis. If investors wish to join the
program, the department will introduce their projects to homebuyers.
The department will
announce the list of budget and affordable home projects next month but
newly-completed or nearly-finished projects will be prioritized. The
department will not eye projects that remain on paper or that only have the
site clearance step finished to prevent further stockpiles, Tuan said.
To reach soft
loans, customers will sign home leasing or buying contracts with investors
and then contact any of the five banks to ask for credit. The bank will
assess necessary documents before giving them loans.
PVFCCo
receives operational excellence certificate
PetroVietnam
Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo) was granted with the
Certificate of Operational Excellence by Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe A/S in a
visit trip to this country last week.
The certificate is
given to recognize the safe and stable operation progress of Phu My
fertilizer plant owned by PVFCCo and located in Phu My I Industrial Park, Ba
Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Tan Thanh District.
The plant has a
production capacity of 800,000 tons of urea fertilizer per year and uses the
technologies of Haldor Topsoe A/S and
Greenback
expensive at some banks
A number of banks
lowered their U.S. dollar prices in the last 48 hours, but others are still
quoting the greenback at high levels, hitting the ceiling of VND21,036 for a
dollar.
At Techcombank, the
ceiling price has remained unchanged since last Thursday. Some other banks,
like Vietcombank, cut the dollar price to around VND20,020, down a mere VND16
over the preceding day.
Meanwhile,
Sacombank, BIDV and Eximbank kept their prices at over VND21,025.
Nguyen Hoang Minh,
deputy director of the central bank’s branch in HCMC, noted foreign currency
supply and demand remained stable in the city. While foreign currency
deposits in April fell 4.4% against end-2012, loans in foreign currency
dropped 8.2%.
Banks have demand
for foreign currencies, he stated, but they have to ensure their foreign
currency status does not fluctuate wider than 2% per day. They keep buying
foreign currency as the interest rates for dong have sharply declined.
In the free market,
one U.S. dollar sold for VND21,400, up VND120 over last weekend.
In related news,
the central bank spent some US$1 billion importing gold after selling nearly
19 tons of gold via auctions. In an auction on Tuesday, 26,000 taels were sold
at roughly VND40.53 million per tael.
Foreign
ownership cap in local banks to rise
Foreign investors
can own stakes exceeding the prescribed limit in local banks, says a draft
decree prepared by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The decree is drawn
up to replace Decree 69/2007/ND-CP dated April 20, 2007. It has been
submitted to the Government.
As per the draft
decree, an individual foreigner can own a maximum stake of 20% in a credit
institution with no need to get the nod from the Prime Minister. Currently,
approval from the Prime Minister is required.
In some special
cases, the Prime Minister will specify the combined stake that foreign
investors and those persons related to them can hold in a weak bank, which
may exceed the above cap, in order to restructure the banking system,
according to SBV.
Currently, Decree
69 stipulates the combined stake that foreign investors and those related to
them can hold in a Vietnamese bank is 30%, consistent with
SBV has compiled
the new decree based on the ownership limit for a shareholder (15%) provided
in the 2010 Law on Credit Institutions and the policy of encouraging foreign
investors to join the restructuring of weak banks under Decision 254 of the
Prime Minister.
Many State-owned
enterprises have pulled out of credit institutions, says the central bank.
Import
surplus hits US$1.2 billion in May
The direct foreign
investment (FDI) sector boasted US$7.12 billion, or 65.9% of Vietnam’s total
export value and imported US$6.6 billion worth of goods, making up 55 percent
of the country’s total import spending.
Key export items
included crude oil, seafood, rice, electronics, computers and spare parts,
and garment and textile products. Imports were mostly electronic components,
machinery, steel, chemicals, and petrol.
Since the beginning
of this year,
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Bảy, 25 tháng 5, 2013
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