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Remittances to reach hit $7.3b
Overseas remittances have surged strongly this year and were expected to reach US$7.3 billion by year's end, an increase of over 14 per cent over 2009, said State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Nguyen Van Giau.
The growth in this figure was considerable in comparison to other measures of foreign capital inflows, e.g., foreign direct investment or official development assistance, and had been increasing steadily in the past two weeks, Giau said, suggested that the increased inflows would help stabilise the foreign currency supplies and reserves, as well as the balance of payments.
With foreign reserves currently thin and the demand for dollars expected to undergo a seasonal increase before the Lunar New Year holidays, the State Bank of Viet Nam has already needed to intervene in the foreign exchange market by pouring additional dollars into the commercial banking system.
The US dollar on the black market on Dec. 6 fell to VND21,280-21,350 per dollar, down VND180 from Saturday, while commercial banks continued to quote the dollar at VND19,500.
To address the trade deficit and the balance of payments, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been examining domestic petroleum production with a goal to increase the use of domestically processed products.
The Dung Quat oil refinery, the nation's only petroleum-refining facility, was estimated to be able to meet about 30 per cent of the domestic demand, with the remaining 70 per cent coming from imported sources.
The World Bank recently released a report on remittances worldwide in 2010, with Viet Nam ranking 16th among the top 30 countries surveyed.
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