Day: January 3, 2023

The retail prices of petrol were increased in the latest adjustment on January 3 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

 

The price of E5 RON 92 petrol went up 330 VND per litre to 21,350 VND (0.91 USD).

 

Meanwhile, the retail price of RON 95 rose by 350 VND to 22,150 VND per litre.

 

The prices of diesel oil remained unchanged at 22,150 VND per litre and kerosene went up 600 VND to 22,760 VND per litre.

 

At this price adjustment, the two ministries decided to extract 605 VND per litre from diesel oil and 200 VND per liter from kerosene, and 100 VND per kg from mazut for the petrol price stabilisation fund.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the country’s economy grew 3.8% in 2022, slower than the 7.6% recorded in 2021.

 

The ministry said Singapore’s economy was expected to grow 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022, slowing from the revised 4.2% in the previous quarter.

 

All sectors expanded year-on-year in the fourth quarter except for manufacturing, which contracted 3% and marked a sharp reversal from the 1.4% growth in the third term.

 

The construction sector grew by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the 7.8% growth seen in the third quarter due to recovery in construction output in both public and private sectors. The services sector grew 4.1%, moderating from the previous term’s 5.8% rise.

 

The city-state earlier projected that economic growth will slow further this year, coming in between 0.5% and 2.5%. Export demand continues to weaken, especially for electronics, and there is concern over a potential recession in advanced economies.

 

Inflation remains a downside risk in 2023. Even as the inflation rate has come off its peak, analysts expect it will likely remain elevated.

 

Singapore’s core consumer inflation, which excludes private transportation and accommodations, was up 5.1% on the year in November. This was unchanged from October, which marked the first dip since February 2022.

 

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.2% in October-December on a year-on-year basis, the government data showed, almost half of the 4.2% growth seen in the third quarter.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) must direct commercial banks to meet all payment and cash demands of individuals and firms during Tet (Lunar New Year).

 

It was under Directive No. 22/CT-TTg issued last week by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with an aim to prepare for the country’s largest festival Tet, which falls on January 22, 2023.

 

Under the directive, the Prime Minister requested the SBV to proactively monitor the global and domestic economic developments in order to manage the monetary policy cautiously and flexibly.

 

Interest rates and exchange rates must be managed reasonably and in line with the market situation to ensure the stability of the monetary and foreign exchange markets, the Prime Minister noted.

 

The monetary policy must be closely coordinate with fiscal policy and other macroeconomic policies in order to contribute to controlling inflation, stabilising the macro-economy and ensuring the great balance of the economy, according to the directive.

 

The Prime Minister also required the SBV to strengthen inspection and supervision of operation of credit institutions and foreign bank branches, ensuring the safety of the entire banking system.

 

The SBV must also direct commercial banks to proactively develop and implement specific plans for ATM operations at the end of this year and the upcoming Lunar New Year, including cash plans for ATM, ATM funds, staff and maintenance for ATMs.

 

Commercial banks are directed to closely monitor to detect and refill ATMs that run out of money; take measures to promptly handle and respond to incidents and situations to ensure safe and smooth operation of the ATM system; promptly support and solve customers’ problems during ATM transactions, prioritise quick handling of cases where ATMs swallow cards.

 

According to the current legal regulations, commercial banks will be fined 15 million VND for ATM machines that run out of cash. A fine of 10-15 million VND will be imposed on banks that suspend ATM operations without a 24-hour notice.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) has kept its forecast for Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2023 unchanged at 6.6% in line with the official forecast of 6.5%, although growth momentum is likely to be weaker.

 

In its report on Vietnam’s economic growth in the last quarter of 2022 and prospects for 2023, the bank said Vietnam’s real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 returned to normal at 5.92% year on year, due to signs of a decline in external demand. There was a sharp increase of 13.67% in the third quarter.

 

The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that the country’s GDP expanded by 8.02% in 2022 from the growth of just 2.58% in 2021. This is the fastest pace annually since 1997.

 

UOB experts said that the strong growth thanks to its manufacturing and service industries in 2022 shows Vietnam’s resilience after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The bank said the inflation rate is likely to remain stable, especially in the first half of 2023 thanks to the flexible management of monetary policy by the State Bank of Vietnam.

 

At the end of December 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam said that it will operate monetary policy “flexibly” to keep the inflation rate at 4.5% in 2023, aiming to stabilise the currency and foreign exchange markets.

 

Regarding the foreign exchange strategy, UOB forecast a upward momentum of VND/USD exchange rate with a forecast of 25,200 VND, 25,400 VND, 25,600 VND, and 25,800 VND in the four quarters of 2023.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

Total State budget collection was estimated at over 1,803 trillion VND (76.6 billion USD) in 2022, equivalent to 127.8% of the estimate, up 15% year on year, reported the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on January 3.

 

The domestic revenues to the State budget were 21.8% higher than the estimate, marking an annual increase of 9.9%. Meanwhile, those from crude oil and exports-imports rose by 74.3% and 32.7% year-on-year, respectively.

 

The higher-than-estimate budget collection was thanks to a 8.02% GDP growth and hikes of 19.8% in total retail, 7.8% in industrial production index, 10.6% in exports, 8.4% in imports, and trade surplus worth 11.2 billion USD. Rising prices of petrol and input materials also pushed up revenues from crude oil and exports-imports.

 

Several revenues were higher than the estimates, such as individual income taxes up 38.5%, housing and land use fees and taxes up 54.5%. The recovery of capital and collection of dividends and post-tax profits of the State Bank went up 17% thanks to recovering production and trade.

 

The taxation and customs sectors also built databases to trace frauds and collect more revenues from e-commerce and real estate transfer activities. So far, 42 foreign suppliers have filed tax declarations with a total paid tax of 3.44 trillion VND.

 

Revenues from lottery, State-owned, foreign-invested and non-State enterprises also exceeded estimates by between 14.3% and 21.5%.

 

Collection of environmental protection taxes was only 72% of the estimate, equivalent to 73.3% from the same period last year.

 

The total expenditure was estimated at 1.562 trillion VND, or 87.5% of the estimate, up 8.1% year-on-year.

 

Disbursement of development investment capital was 75.1% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Twelve ministries and centrally-run agencies and 17 localities estimated their disbursement at over 80% of the plan while 17 ministries and centrally-run agencies and 7 localities reported disbursement below 50% of the target.

 

Last year, up to 214.7 trillion VND worth of Government bonds were issued, with an average maturity of 12.67 years and annual interest rates of 3.48%.

 

As of the end of 2022, public, Government and sovereign debts reached 38%, 34.7% and 36.8% of the country’s GDP, respectively. The Government’s direct debt obligations were 16.3% of the total State budget collection, within the scope permitted by the National Assembly.

 

According to the MoF, about 105.9 billion VND worth of taxes was for delayed payment last year, some 78.5% of the estimate.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency