Economic news review March 24

Economic news review

Domestic news

In the foreign exchange market on March 24, the State Bank listed the central exchange rate at 24,831 VND/USD, a sharp increase of 18 VND compared to the session at the end of last week.

The USD buying price was listed by the State Bank of Vietnam at VND23,640/USD, 50 VND higher than the floor rate; while the USD selling price was listed at VND26,022/USD, 50 VND lower than the ceiling rate.

On the interbank market, the dollar-dong exchange rate closed at 25,643 VND/USD, up 23 VND compared to the session on March 21.

The dollar-dong exchange rate on the free market decreased by 60 VND for buying and 70 VND for selling, trading at 25,810 VND/USD and 25,900 VND/USD.

On March 24, the interbank money market, the average interbank VND interest rate increased by 0.04 - 0.16 percentage points for all terms from 1 month or less compared to the session at the end of last week, specifically: overnight 4.38%; 1 week 4.48%; 2 weeks 4.55% and 1 month 4.58%. The average interbank USD interest rate remained unchanged for overnight and 1 week terms while decreasing by 0.01 - 0.03 percentage points for the remaining terms, trading at: overnight 4.30%; 1 week 4.38%; 2 weeks 4.42%, 1 month 4.48%.

Government bond yields in the secondary market increased in most maturities except for the 3-year maturity, closing at: 3-year 2.16%; 5-year 2.31%; 7-year 2.67%; 10-year 2.97%; 15-year 3.15%.

Yesterday, in the open market operations, on the mortgage channel, the State Bank offered VND20,000 billion for 7-day term, VND20,000 billion for 14-day term, VND10,000 billion for 28-day term and VND5,000 billion for 91-day term, all at 4.0%. There were VND18,792.64 billion in winning bids for 7-day and 14-day terms, no winning bid volume for 28-day and 91-day terms; VND19,720.63 billion in maturity. The State Bank did not offer SBV bills; there were no maturity.

Thus, the State Bank of Vietnam withdrew a net VND927.89 billion from the market through open market operations yesterday. There were VND79,921.37 billion circulating on the mortgage channel; there were no treasury bills circulating on the market.

Yesterday's stock market session, increased buying power helped the main indices increase points. At the end of the trading session, VN-Index increased positively by 8.44 points (+0.64%) to 1,330.32 points; HNX-Index increased slightly by 0.18 points (+0.07%) to 246.00 points; UPCoM-Index fell by 0.14 points (-0.14%) to 99.18 points. Market liquidity improved with a trading value of over VND20,800 billion. Foreign investors net sold more than VND804 billion on all three exchanges.

The Ministry of Finance has just submitted to the Government a draft resolution of the National Assembly on continuing to reduce 2% of VAT on a number of groups of goods and services. If approved, this policy will take effect from July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026. The Ministry of Finance also expects that reducing VAT by 2% in the last 6 months of 2025 and the whole year of 2026 will reduce state budget revenue by about VND 121,740 billion (of which VND 39,540 billion in 2025 and VND 82,200 billion in 2026).

International News

The S&P Global survey said the US manufacturing PMI fell to 49.8 in March from 52.7 in the previous month and below the forecast of 51.9. In contrast, the country's services PMI rose to 54.3 in March from 51.0 in February, beating the forecast of 51.2.

According to S&P Global, the Eurozone manufacturing PMI came in at 48.7 in March, up from 47.6 in February and above the forecast of 48.3. Meanwhile, the services PMI fell to 50.4 in March, down from 50.6 in the previous month and against expectations of 51.2.

S&P Global said the UK manufacturing PMI fell to 44.6 in March from 46.9 in February and beat expectations for a rise to 47.3. The services PMI, on the other hand, rose to 53.2 this month from 51.0 in the previous month, beating expectations of 51.2.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/diem-lai-thong-tin-kinh-te-ngay-243-161775-161775.html