~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Vietnam says not now mulling dong devaluation


TOKYO - Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan said on Thursday that Hanoi would take steps to overcome the negative effects of Asia's economic crisis, but was not currently considering a currency devaluation.
``Although Vietnam is not in the eye of the currency and financial typhoon, our country has already been negatively affected by it,'' Tan said.
``In order to overcome the negative impact of the crisis and maintain the impetus of economic growth, the Vietnamese government is doing its best to implement macro-economic policy and structural adjustment...,'' he told a seminar in Tokyo.
Asked about the prospects for a devaluation of the dong, Tan said: ``Vietnam's domestic markets are relatively stable and therefore we are not considering any urgent steps towards the currency at present.''
He said, however, that the Vietnamese currency had come under ``strong downward pressure'' and that exports and incoming foreign investment were declining.
Foreign bankers in Vietnam said recently they expected Hanoi to permit a small devaluation of the official dong currency rate in the near future to help exports and boost liquidity in the interbank market.
Analysts say that while Vietnam has been relatively insulated from the market volatility that has wreaked havoc in much of Asia over the last year, the regional crisis has still had a powerful impact on foreign investment and exports.

REUTERS, June 4, 1998.