Photo: GoldTimes

Business Briefing

Gold rate

As of 9 am on June 15, the domestic gold price was listed by DOJI Group at VND 67.4 million/tael (buying) and VND 68.2 million/tael (selling). Compared to the previous session (June 14), the gold price at DOJI increased by VND 500,000/tael for buying and VND 400,000/tael for selling.

Reference exchange rate

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the US dollar at VND 23,093/USD on June 15, up VND 4 from the previous day. With the current trading band of /-3 percent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is VND 23,785/USD, and the floor rate is VND 22,400/USD.

The opening-hour rates at some commercial banks saw fluctuations. At 8:30 am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at VND 23,050/USD, and the selling rate at VND 23,360/USD, both down VND 10 from the rates at the end of June 14. Meanwhile, BIDV kept both rates unchanged from the rates at the end of the previous day, listing the buying rate at VND 23,080/USD and the selling rate at 23,360 VND/USD, according to VNA.

Photo: Vietnam Investment Review

Finance news: HSBC lowers Vietnam’s inflation forecast to 3.5 percent

HSBC has lowered its forecast on Vietnam’s inflation rate in 2022 to 3.5 percent from its earlier prediction of 3.7 percent due to the stable domestic food prices, which is expected to help curb the country’s headline inflation, according to a report released by the bank on June 14. The bank explained that the inflation risk in ASEAN countries has increased since the beginning of 2022, leading to a high rise in both core and headline inflation rates compared to the period before COVID-19 broke out.

However, the impacts are different on each country, and inflation pressure in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines has become heavier, while in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, inflation has been under good control, according to the report. But headline inflation is likely to increase sharply in the second group soon, especially in the context of rising energy prices, it predicted, adding that although the world oil price has "cooled down" compared to the peak in March, it is still at a high level, while the price of natural gas continues to increase gradually.

In Vietnam, energy price inflation has also persisted for a long. Transport prices hit a record high, surpassing food inflation to become the main driver of Vietnam's headline inflation, it said. Despite rising energy prices, food inflation has remained moderate, helping control the overall increase in headline inflation so far, it added. In the report, HSBC also increased its inflation forecast for Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. After considering both inflation and growth, HSBC also revised its forecast for Vietnam's operating interest rates in 2022.

While the current inflation rate remains below the 4 percent target, the bank expects persistent high energy prices will continue to push overall prices up. It is likely that inflation will sometimes surpass the State Bank of Vietnam’s ceiling rate of 4 percent in the second half of 2022 but only temporarily, said the report. That situation will likely cause the bank to adjust interest rates by 50 basis points in the third quarter of 2022 before raising the rates three times, 25 basis points each time in 2023, the report underlined.

Photo: VNA

Real estate news: Vietnam’s real estate market attractive to RoK investors

Vietnam will see more reality projects invested by businesses from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the coming time as they are seeking opportunities to enter and expand operations in the country, according to Andrew Lee, Korean Desk Manager at real estate consultancy Savills Vietnam. A recent survey by Savills Vietnam said Vietnam’s realty market, in addition to the manufacturing sector, has been attracting significant FDI from the RoK over recent years. The proportion of the RoK’s investment in the market doubled in 2018 compared to the previous year. At the end of 2021, the figure grew 13 percent from 2020.

Since the start of 2022, Vietnam has continued to welcome many new projects from the Northeast Asian nation, including a 900-million-USD one to develop Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem in Ho Chi Minh City. YSL Group, another Korean investor, is also implementing an industrial land project spanning nearly 300 hectares in Nam Binh Xuyen, Vinh Phuc province.

Savills Vietnam said that logistics and warehouses are attracting attention from many Korean businesses, with the prominent trend being the development of cold storage and smart warehouses. Vietnamese localities near borders and seaports with good transport infrastructure are also attractive to investors, Lee said.

The RoK is always in the top 3 foreign countries with the highest investment in Vietnam in the last three years, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. In the first five months of this year, it ranked second in investment in Vietnam with over 2.06 billion USD, up 12.6 percent year on year.

Weather Forecast

From June 16 to 17, the heat is likely to increase and cover a large area again. The Central Highlands and Southern regions continue to have hot weather during the day and scattered thunderstorms in the evening. In the south, the southwest monsoon is active with moderate intensity.

Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 14): Reference exchange rate up 18 VND on June 14 Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 14): Bank interest margins under pressure due to high inflation, Vietnam finalizes procedures to export longan to Japan

Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 13): Reference exchange rate up VND 6 Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 13): The demand to buy gold dropped suddenly, causing SJC gold price to drop by millions of dong per ...

Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 12): Vietnam jumped 5 spots in top global startup ecosystems Vietnam Business & Weather Briefing (June 12): Banks told to control lending for real estate projects, Vietnam jumped five spots to rank 54 in the ...