ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meetings

The Meetings were also attended by senior leaders from the Central Banks, the Monetary Authorities, the Ministries of Finance of the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 countries, representatives of the regional and international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO)

Policy dialogue between international organizations and ASEAN Deputy Governors on regional and global macroeconomic situations

Speaking at the ASEAN+3 AFCDM, the IMF’s representative emphasized that Asia and the Pacific would continue to be the main driver for the global economic growth. However, the medium-term growth forecasts are currently at their lowest levels in decades, with the sharpest declines expected in Asia. The real GDP and per capita income growth rates have been declining, reflecting a weakening sign in the region’s long-term potential growth. According to the IMF, the impacts of the geo-economic fragmentation on the global foreign direct investment (FDI) is becoming increasingly evident. The IMF’s models have projected GDP decreases between 6 to 8% for some regions in an extreme fragmentation scenario.

In that context, the IMF has made a number of policy recommendations for the region to mitigate the negative impacts of the FDI fragmentation, including: (i) Building an international consultation framework to coordinate the policies on restructuring the supply chains; (ii) Supporting the private sector to reduce its dependence on the FDI; (iii) Taking advantage of opportunities to attract redirected capital flows through structural reforms and infrastructure improvements; and (iv) Strengthening the regional integration, especially the intra-ASEAN investment capital flows.

On the ADB side, its representative emphasized the serious challenges that the ASEAN+3 region would have to face with the new reciprocal tariffs announced by the US on April 2, 2025 on goods exported from the countries in the region, ranging from 10% to 49% (the tariff rate applied to Vietnam is 46%). In that context, the ADB recommended that the ASEAN+3 region should develop a comprehensive policy response to effectively cope with the negative economic impacts of the new US tariffs. Promoting and upgrading the trade agreements to be more efficient through simplifying the trade rules, adjusting the rules of origin to be aligned with the regional production chains, and diversifying trade partners play an important role in strengthening the regional connectivity. In addition, the ADB also affirmed that the regional financial cooperation is considered to be the key to enhancing the financial stability.

The representative from AMRO recommended that the countries’ policy responses should be specific and flexible. In addition to a cautious approach in coordinating the monetary policy and the fiscal policy to maintain the financial stability, promoting the liberalization of trade and services, diversifying exports and strengthening the innovations would help enhance the region’s competitiveness and resilience in the medium and long terms.

Sharing at the Meeting, the ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies recommended a number of policy responses to the new US tariffs, including: (i) Ensuring the highest priority of not letting the fluctuations in the financial markets affect the financial stability; (ii) Managing the monetary policy flexibly, in collaboration with the fiscal policy to ensure the macroeconomic stability, maintaining a solid macroeconomic foundation, and enhancing the resilience against external shocks; (iii) Adopting flexible, proactive responses and prudent solutions to address the related issues; (iv) Promoting the domestic consumption and diversifying the export markets; (v) Considering to develop a comprehensive regional cooperation plan to strengthen the solidarity, the collaboration, and the information exchanges among the member countries, removing the barriers to the regional integration process. Additionally, the participants also emphasized the importance of the regional financial safety nets, and proposed that the international financial organizations support the studies and the impact assessments, and provide the policy advice to the countries in the region to cope with the current tariff challenges.

ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Banking and Financial Integration Process

The ASEAN banking and financial integration process has recorded significant results in the realization of the strategic goals of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) for the 2016-2025 period. The ASEAN Deputy Governors welcomed the Working Committees for having proposed specific strategies, including the policy adjustments, enhanced coordination among the member countries, capacity building and information sharing to promote a deeper integration.

In 2025, the ASEAN central banks will focus on implementing the strategic priorities to maintain the integration momentum and prepare for the AEC Strategic Plan for the 2026–2030 period, including: (i) The regional payment connections and promoting transactions in the local currencies; (ii) Financial inclusion and digitalization to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and vulnerable communities; (iii) Integration and resilience in the context of market volatilities; and (iv) Sustainable development.

Vietnamese Delegation comprising of representatives from the SBV and the Ministry of Finance at the AFMGM and related meetings

Also within the framework of the Meeting, the ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies provided guidance for the implementation of one of the most important initiatives in the current ASEAN+3 financial and banking cooperation process, which is the development of a new financial structure model for the CMIM by transitioning to a paid-in capital model.

In addition, the Meeting also talked about initiatives to strengthen the ASEAN+3 financial cooperation on the topics that have been receiving a lot of interest, including: sustainable finance, disaster risk financing, digitalization, financial technology (Fintech), and open banking.

Bilateral meeting between the SBV and the US Department of the Treasury

On the sidelines of the Meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Robert Kaproth, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury. At the meeting, the two sides talked about the macroeconomic situation and the monetary policy management. The SBV Deputy Governor emphasized that the monetary and exchange rate policies of the SBV mainly aim to maintain the price stability and ensure a prudent banking system, contributing to the macroeconomic stability. The SBV has been managing the monetary and the exchange rate policies flexibly, in accordance with the development stages of the domestic financial market and the foreign exchange market, and in accordance with the fundamental factors of the economy.

Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh takes a photo with the US Department of the Treasury delegation

Discussing about the new US tariffs, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh shared that Party General Secretary To Lam had made a call with President Donald Trump to exchange about the US-Vietnam partnership. The Government of Vietnam has requested the US side to suspend the effectiveness of the reciprocal tariff on Vietnam for at least 45 days. At the end of the meeting, the two sides pledged to continue maintaining the bilateral cooperation and the policy dialogues between the SBV and the US Department of the Treasury to address any issues of mutual interest.

On April 9-10, 2025, the SBV delegation led by Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh continued to participate in the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM), as well as meetings with the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC), EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC), the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), and the policy dialogue with the CEOs of the big commercial banks in the ASEAN region.

HY