Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

Vietnam's currency, the dong , could lose 5-6 percent of its value against the dollar this year, a government advisory agency predicted on Monday.

The State Bank of Vietnam has introduced new regulations to restrict the establishment of new banks, including one that doubles the minimum asset requirement to VND100 trillion (US$4.75 billion).

Fitch Ratings views yesterday's announcement by the Vietnamese authorities of a State-supported merger of three small privately owned banks as a positive step towards strengthening the local banking system.

Vietnam's central bank unveiled plans to create a three-tiered financial industry dominated by 15 lenders as part of efforts to allay concerns over the nation's banking system.

The State Bank of Vietnam has refuted rumours that it intends to close financial companies.

With the State Bank of Vietnam today increasing the interbank dollar exchange rate for the eighth time this month, the ceiling price at banks rose to VND20,930.

The central bank is taking stronger efforts to stop lenders from breaking credit regulations.

Vietnam's central bank wants to keep fluctuations in the dong to a minimum for the rest of this year, seeing its present value against the dollar as realistic, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

The counterfeit money detected in the bank systems and state treasury in the first half of this year has seen a decline over the previous years, newswire VnExpress reported.

Banks are facing huge foreign exchange balance risks as lending in the US dollar has been soaring while deposits in the greenback are dwindling, according to statistics from the central bank.

Farmers need more capital to maintain production and boost exports. However, bankers do not intend to pour money into the industry.

Vietnam’s struggle to sustain growth while containing Asia’s fastest inflation will be handed to Nguyen Van Binh under succession plans for the central bank’s leadership, according to three people with knowledge of policy makers’ discussions on the matter.

Vietnamese banks have projected a decline in profits this year given overstretched market conditions.

Doi Sy Thuy, director of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank)'s branch No 3 in HCM City was arrested yesterday on credit mismanagement charges.

The State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau announced that foreign exchange rates on the unofficial currency market will drop in coming days as the authorities launch a crackdown on illegal dollar hoarding and trading.