BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS €“ MAY 2-8

Tough punishments on USD deposit interest rate ceiling violation

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has recently ordered commercial banks to strictly comply with the ceiling on dollar deposit rates, announcing a plan to strengthen investigations and supervision and punish infringements, said an official.

Deputy Director of the SBV's Monetary Policy Department Nguyen Duc Long announced that the policy on zero-percent interest rate for deposits in USD has been applied since late September, 2015 (for organizations) and mid December, 2015 (for individuals). It aimed to prevent dollarization and stabilize the foreign exchange market in the first four months of 2016.

Construction begins on a US$220 million wind power plant in Tra Vinh

Tra Vinh People’s Committee has allowed Woojin Construction Co.,Ltd from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to construct the second phase of the RoK-Tra Vinh wind power plant in Truong Long Hoa commune, Duyen Hai town.

The 96-megawat plant, worth VND4,952 billion (or US$247.6 million) and located on 2,500 hectares of land and water surface, has 48 wind turbines, which are expected to generate more than 332,438 MWh of power per year.

The first phase of the plant is scheduled to complete February next year, generating over 173,000 MWh of power every year.

Fuel prices gain over VND600 per liter

The prices of RON 92 petrol and bio-fuel E5 were raised VND646 and VND634 per liter from 3:00 pm on May 5.

Following a joint decision by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance, the prices of diesel 0.05S and kerosene also increased VND650 and VND550 per liter, respectively.

It is the third fuel price hike since the beginning of this year with a total increase of VND1,800 per liter.

IPI grows nearly 8% in April

The Industrial Production Index (IPI) in April posted a year-on-year growth of 7.9%, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The GSO reported that mining industry dropped 8.1% while the processing and manufacturing sectors electricity production and distribution, and water supply and sewage treatment increased 12.5%, 11.5%, and 8.5% respectively.

In the January-April period, the IPI grew 7.3% compared to 9.6% in the same period of 2015.

VN’s PMI reaches record high

The Nikkei Viet Nam Services Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to a nine-month high thanks to sharply increasing contracts.

Nikkei reported that Viet Nam’s PMI increased to 52.3 points in April, the record high over the last nine months from March’s 52.3 points. Business conditions were improved over the last five months.

Source: VGP