Private sector

Monetary policies: highlights of early 2021 By Pham Minh Consistently low interbank interest rates since the start of 2020 (except on a few days, when an unexpected drop in liquidity pushes up interest rates) have enabled banks to keep deposit and lending interest rates manageable to boost production and investment - PHOTO: TRAN NGOC LINH The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has loosened monetary policies since the start of this year to fuel growth as macroeconomic fundamentals remain favorable. Maintaining the values of key interest rates and sustaining policies aimed at supporting enterprises battered by Covid-19 are among the highlights of monetary policies in 2021. Monetary policy management is inextricably tied with macroeconomic fundamentals. It is therefore important to review these factors as a necessary condition for policymaking of the SVB, the central bank. Two key variables, inflation and the exchange rate, were rather encouraging in the first four months of this year. Inflation in the first four months only rose by 0.89% year-on-year, the lowest since 2016 (according to the General Statistics Office). However, there is enormous inflationary pressure due to rising global money supply and the recovery of the global economy and trade following stimulus packages. The prices of commodities such as fuel, oil and agro-products have faced upward pressure. However, since prices were relatively high in Vietnam last year, especially in the first two months of 2020, the year-on-year increase observed in 2021 was not drastic. Exchange rates remain stable. As the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) continues easing monetary policies by maintaining its target interest rates at around 0% and buying bonds worth US$120 billion per month, demand for holding the greenback, both worldwide and in Vietnam, has fallen. This has been a blessing for the dong. Dollars pour into Vietnam, leading to surpluses in both trade and capital accounts, contributing to exchange …

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At the working session in Dodoma capital on June 17, Tien said the two countries boast considerable potential for cooperation in crop cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture, and forestry. He also introduced Vietnam’s agricultural strengths to the Tanzania minister, noting that Vietnam earned more than 41 billion USD from agricultural exports in 2020, with the US being the largest importer, followed by China, the EU, ASEAN, and Japan. Congratulating Mkenda on his reappointment as Minister of Agriculture, one of the most important economic sectors in Tanzania, the diplomat expressed his delight at the recent strides in the countries’ relations and spoke highly of the outcomes in bilateral cooperation in bilateral and multilateral aspects For his part, Minister Mkenda highlighted their countries’ sound relations throughout history, noting that in agriculture, Tanzania prioritizes developing crop varieties and animal breeds, boosting production supporting services, increasing irrigation, expanding markets for agricultural exports, providing finance, and managing diseases He asked Vietnam to share experience in developing such key farm produce as rice, coffee, tea, and cashew nuts while calling on Vietnamese enterprises to invest in building agricultural processing factories in his country. The two sides shared the view on the importance of signing agreements, firstly those on double taxation avoidance and investment facilitation and protection, so as to create a legal framework for bilateral cooperation. Ambassador Tien also welcomed Tanzania attending a Vietnam - Africa conference on agriculture to be chaired by the Southeast Asian nation in late 2021. Source: VNA …

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An otter, an endangered animal, is caged and sold at Thanh Hoa market in Long An province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Wildlife trafficking in Vietnam remains complicated both before and during COVID-19, a report released on June 18 by the People and Nature Reconciliation ( PanNature ) non-profit organisation showed. The report was based on a survey carried out across 20 provinces and cities nationwide in 2019-20. Vietnam is viewed as a hotspot for transportation and consumption of wildlife products of the world. Despite the Government’s efforts to prevent the illegal trade after COVID-19 broke out, the number of violations has yet to decline. Some wildlife markets are still open and even rare and endangered animals, like turtles and birds, are put up for sale. Of note, elephant tusk smuggling remains rampant with illegally trading of ivory products found in 27 out of 31 surveyed locations. Many wild animals are kept in cages with poor sanitation, posing risks of spreading diseases. The report also puts forward measures to minimise the risk of diseases originating from animals, including shutting down all illegal wildlife markets, tightening control of wildlife farms, compiling a list of wild animals allowed for private keeping, and intensifying control of wildlife-related advertising on the mass media and e-commerce platforms, and promoting communications on wildlife trafficking prevention, among others./. VNA …

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