TNT: Harambe: Vietnam Sets Dong Fixing at Record Low as Dollar Strength Grows | Bloomberg 9/8/22
Vietnam set its reference rate for the dong at a record low, setting the stage for more weakness in the Southeast Asian nation’s currency
The State Bank of Vietnam set the currency fixing at 23,281 dong per dollar on Thursday, the weakest since at least 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s after the dong fell to the lowest in more than two years in the previous session.
Vietnam’s dong is on track to fall for the eighth straight month as the dollar pummels emerging-market currencies to fresh lows. The risk-sensitive Korean won is approaching the closely-watched 1400 mark, while the Chinese yuan is teetering on the edge of the key 7 per dollar level .
“The dong is too strong at the moment for an export-oriented economy,” said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis SA in Hong Kong. “That said, they care about imports and inflation so won’t allow excessive depreciation.”
Nguyen forecasts the dong to approach 24,000 per dollar. The currency rose 0.1% to 23,585 per dollar on Thursday after falling to 23,615 on Wednesday, the lowest since March 2020.
The State Bank of Vietnam didn’t immediately respond to questions on the fixing. The central bank allows the dong to trade within a band of 3% on either side of the reference rate, which is based on eight currencies and is set every day.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-08/vietnam-sets-dong-fixing-at-record-low-as-dollar-strength-grows
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Tishwash: The US credit agency ranks Vietnam 5th in terms of economic openness
According to Fitch Solutions, Vietnam ranks 5th out of 35 Asian countries in terms of economic openness.
In Fitch Solutions’ Vietnam Trade and Investment Risks report for the third quarter of this year, Vietnam scored 74.6 out of 100 in terms of economic openness, well above the Asian average of 46 and the average. globally is 49.5 points. Globally, Vietnam ranks 20th out of 201 markets assessed by this organization.
Fitch Solutions’ economic openness is a measure of trade openness and investment openness, based on import-export value and foreign direct investment (FDI).
Meanwhile, on a global scale, Vietnam ranks 20th out of 201 markets assessed by Fitch Solutions. With this set of indicators of economic openness, Vietnam has a score just behind Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Malaysia.
In terms of trade and investment risks, Vietnam was scored 61.1 points, higher than the average level of Asia and the world. Vietnam is currently ranked 9th in Asia and 57th globally in terms of trade and investment risks. For trade and investment risk levels, the lower the score, the higher the risk.
According to Fitch Solutions, Vietnam is emerging as an important manufacturing hub in East and Southeast Asia, supported by government-led economic liberalization efforts and integration into supply chains. globally, through trade agreements and membership of regional and international blocs.
Vietnam is a member of many free trade agreements (FTAs), including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as well as the EVFTA and a series of multilateral free trade agreements. form brings many benefits to Vietnam.
Fitch assesses this fact to help Vietnam diversify its economy and trade, expand its market, and hold many advantages in exports and trade and investment exchanges.
Fitch Solutions emphasized that these factors make Vietnam attractive to investors. However, regulations restricting foreign ownership in some fields of energy, mining, transportation, agriculture, and public utilities, make Vietnam’s investment openness ranking only 8th. Asia and 62 globally, scoring 60 points.
According to the General Statistics Office, for the first seven months of 2022, export turnover of goods is estimated at US$216.35 billion, up 16.1% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, import turnover of goods was estimated at $215.59 billion, up 13.6% over the same period last year.
Also according to the General Statistics Office, realized foreign direct investment capital in Vietnam in the first seven months of 2022 was estimated at $11.57 billion, up 10.2% over the same period last year. This is the highest amount of foreign direct investment capital realized in 7 months in the past 5 years. In addition, the total foreign investment capital registered in Vietnam as of July 20, 2022 includes: newly registered capital, adjusted registered capital and value of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors. outside reached nearly 15.54 billion USD.
Fitch Solutions, part of the Fitch Group, is one of three nationally recognized statistical rating agencies (NRSROs) founded in 1975 by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, headquartered in New York. link
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CharlieOK: I am maintaining being positive about this thing because it is so obviously negative. I don’t buy it. This thing has progressed to the point that “security” or “normalcy” can NOT have anything to do with it. I am looking for a lightning bolt. Hope I am here to see it.
CharlieOK: This is built for a Caretaker Govt. to step in and clean house for a couple of years. During the cleaning process – why not help out the folks and increase the value of the currency? This is not rocket science.
2gold: Does anyone really think that the United States has the ability to fix Iraq‘s economy? Look at the great job they’re doing with ours!
CharlieOK: My focus is now, more than ever, on the US, UN, Europe, Russia, China, etc. Iraq is Iraq. When the big boys decide the pot is right, I hope we get the lightning bolt in our lifetime,
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Tishwash: Baghdad loses control.. Kurdistan opens its doors to imported products and Iraq is drowning
Governmental weakness, lost control, nullified cooperation, smuggled territory, and conflicting Baghdad and Erbil relations affect a new sector, which is agriculture, or as it is called the “life” sector; As a result of its direct impact on the Iraqi people, there is a difference between two governments that will not care about a country that bleeds crises and not blood.
The Federal Integrity Commission has opened a new corruption, so the accused is the “regional government” and the default is “the Baghdad government”, and the victim is one, the “citizen”. The impact of the entry of agricultural products in “frightening” numbers through Kurdistan into the country, and in an uncontrolled way.
Earlier, the Integrity Commission confirmed in a statement received by / the information /, “The Ministry of Agriculture does not control the products entering through Kurdistan, and that the amount of materials entering through the region exceeds times the production capacity of its facilities, and this is an indication of the existence of corruption that accompanied the process of entering imported materials on It is a national product.”
* Weak hip
The “Al-Mabkhout” government, within two years, worsened the situation of the country in all its aspects, starting with the politics, passing through the security file, which witnessed a clear deterioration, and not concluding with the economic file. Suffocate the people, in many ways.
Member of Parliament, Muhammad Karim, criticizes the joints of the caretaker government, stressing that it suffers from poor performance in all of its ministerial duties.
In an interview with “Information”, Karim affirmed that “all joints of the government suffer from weak and poor performance, and there are real problems in all sectors, including the agricultural sector and the control of products, given the presence of lists that prevented the entry of products.”
He adds that “the process of keeping pace with the market and its needs and studying it seriously and correcting the level of performance is not available,” noting that “when decisions are taken, there must be committees for follow-up and evaluation before the decision is issued, given that it is one of the requirements of decision management and the ministry, but the real problem is These ministries cannot follow up on it, monitor it, correct its tracks, or modify it.”
The member of the House of Representatives explains that “this is a real problem in dealing with the decisions issued or what suppresses the needs of the citizen and what he needs on a daily basis, whether from markets or from goods that are allowed to enter or that are prohibited in order to support the national product.”
* There is no censor, no accountability
It is known that all state ministries are required to follow up on the simplest tasks entrusted to them, especially with the availability of all the necessary needs to perform their duty, but the “great catastrophe” finds the majority of the ministries of the current government do not know “when it rises and sets,” leaving its tasks without supervision or accountability.
Economist Dia Al-Mohsen asserts that “the Ministry of Agriculture cannot control the northern border crossings.”
In an interview with the Information Agency, Al-Mohsen said, “Agriculture cannot control the northern border crossings, because it is the Kurdish parties that control these ports, especially there are unofficial ports through which they enter goods, commodities and agricultural products from Turkey for the benefit of the parties that control them.” By taking a levy, it goes to its treasury.
He added, however, that “the situation seems to be uncontrollable in the absence of cooperation between northern Iraq and the Ministry of Agriculture, that is, the central government,” adding: “It is necessary for the central government to take urgent measures, especially in the areas where Erbil has a long hand; To monitor these products through which it enters.
* Rudeness and recklessness
Despite the weakness of the central government and the relevant ministry, the matter does not go far beyond the extent of the “insolence” of the North Region, and the amount of its disregard for Baghdad.
The representative of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Muhammad Karim, returns to continue his speech, and reveals “there are more than 21 unofficial outlets in the Kurdistan region, calling on the government to implement these measures to control the entry of goods into the country.
And he shows that “the entry of goods from one side will greatly affect the rest of the regions, especially since the majority of goods enter through the Kurdistan region, due to the absence of controls, and the presence of customs facilities and unofficial ports, which exceed 21 ports, in addition to four ports controlled by the state and take from them fees”.
And regarding the solutions necessary to address the problem, the member of the House of Representatives clarifies that “the problem of entering goods from the Kurdistan region is either done by automation and strictly imposing the system on all border crossings and giving powers to the Border Ports Authority to manage this file,” noting that “the other thing is to establish controls On the borders of the governorates of the region to control the entry of these goods link
