Vietnamese people “addicted” to mobile phone

VietNamNet Bridge – More and more Vietnamese become addicted to mobile phones, as the service providers continue to lower the fees and the prices of luxury phones with many entertainment functions are also decreasing.

Vietnam to use reserves, won't devalue

Vietnam will use its foreign exchange reserves to cover a shortage of dollars which is sharply pushing down the dong, but will not devalue its currency at least through early 2011, state media said on Thursday.

The government has requested the central bank to conduct "strong enough intervention" and inject dollars to stabilize the market, the Vietnam Economic Times quoted Le Duc Thuy, Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, as saying in an online report.

Real estate bubble – the accessory to inflation

VietNamNet Bridge – The real estate bubble is the accessory to inflation, and it should be considered as the “dangerous germ” which must not be allowed to live together with a healthy economy.

Minh, a securities investor, who went bankrupt due to the continued drops in stock prices, has unexpectedly got rich again. Several days ago, he came to a friend’s party as a real estate billionaire. Minh related that after he lost big sums of money on the stock market, he decided to sell all the remaining stocks he had. With the sum of money from selling shares, he bought 200 square meters of land near the Bao Son Paradise area in Hanoi at 30 million dong per square meter. Now he can sell the land plot at 60 million dong per square meter. If he sells the land plot right now, he will get a huge profit of six billion dong – the dream of many businessmen.

Bank denies new rumours of devaluation. HA NOI — The State Bank of Viet Nam is not planning any adjustments to foreign exchange rates, State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau said yesterday in Ha Noi.

State Bank pours more capital into interbank system. HA NOI — The State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday announced it would inject additional capital with longer terms into the interbank open market system, in a measure aimed at easing upward pressures on interbank interest rates.

Banks surpass limit on deposits. HA NOI — Some commercial banks now offer yearly interest of up to 14 per cent for Vietnamese dong deposits after offering 12 per cent earlier this week.

Banks enjoy looser deposit interest cap. HA NOI — Commercial banks have begun increasing deposit interest rates in accordance with an agreement reached last week among members of the Viet Nam Banking Association that allows banks to pay as high as 12 per cent per year.

Central bank increases benchmark interest rate. HA NOI — The State Bank of Viet Nam increased the prime interest rate by 1 percentage point yesterday to 9 per cent per year, the first increase in the benchmark rate in 11 months.

Listed banks may face bad-debt limits. HA NOI — Credit institutions with bad debts of more than 3 per cent will not be allowed to list on the stock exchanges, according to a draft circular of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

BIDV sets up fund with Russian partner. HA NOI — The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) yesterday announced a deal with Russia's VTB to set up a multi-million dollar investment fund.