Central bank won’t change rates on inflation

Sunday, April 27, 2008
Viet Nam’s central bank will not change the benchmark interest rate because month-on-month increases in inflation show recent policy measures have been effective, according to Governor Nguyen Van Giau.
Consumer prices in the Southeast Asian nation surged 21.4% this month from April 2007, the most since at least 1992, according to figures released Friday by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi.
From a month earlier, prices rose 2.2%, compared with gains of 3% in March from February.
“We are fine with this month’s inflation since we care more about month-on-month prices, and on a monthly basis you can see that inflation has slowed down and showed that the central bank’s short-term measures have been effective,’’ Giau said Friday
“So we will keep the base rate at its current level of 8.75%.’’
The State Bank of Viet Nam has raised interest rates, increased bank reserves and sold compulsory bills this year in a bid to slow money-supply growth and combat inflation. (Bloomberg)