SBV Governor Le Minh Hung meets IMF Deputy Managing Director

Sharing on the results of Vietnam’s socio-economic development in the recent years, the SBV Governor said that despite the adverse effects of the global economic developments, Vietnam has managed to maintain the macroeconomic stability and a good growth momentum; with the growth rate of the first 9 months of 2019 estimated at 7%. The business environment is improving, and the Government is implementing several policies to encourage the development of the private sector, thereby contributing to solving the imbalance between savings and domestic investment. The monetary policy has been governed in a prudent manner; the SBV has continued to consistently implement the policy of strict credit control, gradually reducing credit growth in line with an appropriate roadmap to avoid sudden impacts that are detrimental to the credit institution system. The monetary policy management framework has continued to be improved in the direction of modernizing and applying international standards and technologies in the monetary policy planning and implementation. The process of reforming and restructuring the banking system has been further accelerated, the rate of bad debt handling has been improved, bad debts and potential bad debts have been controlled at a low level. Along with that, the SBV has continued to issue several regulations to increase the transparency and apply the international standards in the banking operations. The Governor affirmed that the above positive results have been achieved partly thanks to the important contributions of the IMF through its policy consultancy and technical assistance.

The SBV Governor shared that Vietnam is in the process of developing a 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy and a 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan for the 2021 – 2026 period, and thus looking forward to the comments and suggestions from the international partners. In the banking sector, the SBV will focus on the following tasks (i) Improving the legal framework, strengthening the application of international standards in the banking operations, (ii) Continuing to modernize the monetary policy governance framework, and (iii) Strengthening the forecasting and statistical capabilities.

SBV Governor Le Minh Hung takes photo with IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa

Speaking highly of the results of Vietnam’s socio-economic development in the recent years, IMF Deputy Managing Director Furusawa affirmed that Vietnam has achieved very encouraging achievements in maintaining a high growth rate, and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. These results have been made thanks to the important contributions from the monetary policy management. In addition, the efforts to reform and enhance the capacity of the financial sector have helped to improve the economy's resilience to external shocks. The IMF Deputy Managing Director welcomed the SBV's encouraging results in dealing with bad debts, applying Basel II regulations and increasing capital for the commercial banks, as well as controlling the credit growth. Mr. Furusawa affirmed that the IMF is always ready to assist the SBV in improving the legal framework for the banking system, strengthening the capabilities in the fields of policy management, forecasting and statistics, as well as other issues that the SBV has interest in.

VA