Economic news review May 12

Economic news review

Domestic news

In the foreign exchange market session on May 12, the State Bank listed the central exchange rate at 24,945 VND/USD, down 6 VND compared to the session at the end of last week.

The USD buying price is listed at 23,748 VND/USD, 50 VND higher than the floor rate; while the USD selling price is listed at 26,142 VND/USD, 50 VND lower than the ceiling rate.

On the interbank market, the dollar-dong exchange rate closed at 25,973 VND/USD, up 8 VND compared to the session on May 9.

The dollar-dong exchange rate on the free market increased by 5 VND in buying and 25 VND in selling, trading at 26,380 VND/USD and 26,500 VND/USD.

On May 12, the interbank money market, the average interbank VND interest rate decreased by 0.01 - 0.02 percentage points for overnight and 1-month terms while remaining unchanged for 1-week and 2-week terms compared to the session at the end of last week, specifically: overnight 4.14%; 1 week 4.30%; 2 weeks 4.40% and 1 month 4.50%. The average interbank USD interest rate remained unchanged for overnight and 1-month terms while slightly decreasing by 0.01 percentage point for the remaining terms, trading at: overnight 4.30%; 1 week 4.35%; 2 weeks 4.41%, 1 month 4.46%.

Government bond yields in the secondary market remained unchanged across most maturities, except for a decrease in the 10-year term, closing at: 3-year 2.19%; 5-year 2.44%; 7-year 2.77%; 10-year 3.07%; 15-year 3.22%.

Yesterday, in the open market operations, on the mortgage channel, the State Bank offered VND10,000 billion for a 7-day term, VND10,000 billion for a 14-day term, VND5,000 billion for a 35-day term and VND3,000 billion for a 91-day term, with interest rates all at 4.0%. There were VND7,552.19 billion in winning bids for 3 short terms; there was no winning bid volume for a 91-day term. There were VND24,923.55 billion maturing. The State Bank did not offer SBV bills.

Thus, the State Bank of Vietnam withdrew a net VND17,371.36 billion from the market through open market operations yesterday. There were VND58,798.76 billion circulating in the mortgage channel.

In the stock market, the sharp reduction in tariffs by the US and China caused the indices to rebound in the first session of the week. At the close of the session, the VN-Index increased by more than 15.96 points (+1.26%) to 1,283.26 points; the HNX-Index increased by 1.91 points (+0.89%) to 216.04 points; the UPCoM-Index added 0.19 points (+0.20%) to 93.59 points. Market liquidity increased significantly with a trading value of over VND21,100 billion. Foreign investors net sold nearly VND302 billion on all three exchanges.

Vietnam Electricity Group issued Decision No. 599/QD-EVN dated May 7, 2025 on adjusting the average retail electricity price, accordingly, the average retail electricity price after adjustment is VND 2,204.0655/kWh (excluding value added tax) from May 10, 2025. This adjustment is equivalent to an increase of 4.8% compared to the current average retail electricity price. This Decision is based on the provisions of the Electricity Law No. 61/2024/QH15 dated November 30, 2024, Decree No. 72/2025/ND-CP dated March 28, 2025 of the Government stipulating the mechanism and time for adjusting the average retail electricity price and Circular No. 22/2025/TT-BCT dated April 26, 2025 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade stipulating the calculation of the average retail electricity price, with the spirit of minimizing the impact on the economy and people's lives and carefully assessing, in accordance with the practical situation.

International News

Yesterday, May 12, at a meeting in Geneva, US officials decided to cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30% (not applicable to individual sectoral tariffs and tariffs imposed on China during President Donald Trump's first term). In return, Beijing representatives also agreed to lower tariffs on US imports from 125% to just 10%. These commitments will be effective temporarily for 90 days.

After the meeting, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent affirmed that the US wants a more balanced trade relationship with China and its partners, and also said that it will continue to work with Beijing in the coming weeks to launch a more comprehensive agreement.

Japan recorded several important economic indicators. First, the Ministry of Finance announced that the country's current account surplus was JPY2.72 trillion in March, down from February's surplus of JPY2.91 trillion but well above the forecast of JPY2.42 trillion. Next, the Cabinet Office said that the country's economic confidence index fell to 42.6 in April from 45.1 in the previous month, deeper than the forecast of 44.7.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/diem-lai-thong-tin-kinh-te-ngay-125-164054-164054.html