No IMF loan to solve bad debt

HA NOI — Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Le Minh Hung yesterday rejected a rumour that Viet Nam had to ask for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with bad debts.

Hung stated that the IMF and the Vietnamese Government have never discussed, nor intend to discuss access to the IMF's credit.

The Deputy Governor explained that the purpose of the IMF's loans is to assist countries with temporary difficulties, meeting their balance of payments and maintaining adequate foreign exchange reserves for the future.

Both the Vietnamese Government and the IMF have assessed that Viet Nam's macro-economic situation has shown positive and stable signs. Trade balance, current accounts and overall balance have a high surplus, while the market and public remain confident of economic stability.

"With the above conditions, there is no reason that Viet Nam needs access to an IMF's credit," said Hung.

Hung added that Alfred Schipke, the IMF's new mission chief to Viet Nam, has just finished a two-day visit to the country.

The IMF has taken a positive view of Viet Nam's current economy and acknowledged the achievements of the government in the past year, especially its monetary and foreign exchange policies plus its restructuring of the banking system.

The IMF reaffirmed that it was always ready to support Viet Nam's financial and banking systems reforms through its regular policy dialogue programmes as well as technical assistance programmes such as the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP). — VNS