Electricity price increase; proposal to reduce environmental tax on gasoline

- Electricity price increased by 4.5%, to 2,006 VND/kWh

On the afternoon of November 9, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) announced an adjustment to retail electricity prices. Specifically, the electricity price was adjusted up by 4.5%. Thus, the electricity price increased from VND 1,920.3 to VND 2,006.79/kWh (excluding value added tax - VAT).

EVN representative said that this electricity price increase will help EVN increase its revenue in 2023 by an additional VND3,200 billion, partly reducing the difficulties of 2023. (See more)

- Proposal to continue reducing taxes, reducing pressure on gasoline prices

From January 1, 2024, the environmental protection tax on gasoline, oil, and grease will increase again. The Ministry of Finance believes that solutions are needed to help stabilize gasoline prices and stabilize the macro economy. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has just sent the Ministry of Justice for appraisal of the Draft Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee on environmental protection tax rates on gasoline, oil, and grease in 2024. In the submission, the Ministry of Finance proposed to continue reducing environmental protection tax on gasoline in 2024. (See more)

- National Assembly "finalizes" 2024 growth target from 6-6.5%

On the afternoon of November 9, with 90.49% of delegates in favor, the National Assembly voted to pass the draft Resolution on the Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2024. Notably, the National Assembly agreed to set the target of a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6-6.5%; GDP per capita of about 4,700-4,730 USD; average consumer price index (CPI) growth rate of 4-4.5%... (according to Nguoi Lao Dong).

- The National Assembly is about to consider tax policies to keep 'eagles' coming to invest in Vietnam.

The National Assembly Standing Committee has just issued a Resolution adjusting the Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2023. One of the two National Assembly resolutions added to the Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2023 will create an important boost in attracting foreign investment as well as retaining existing investors. (See more)

intel 409.jpg — Foreign corporations investing in Vietnam are looking forward to policies to respond to global minimum tax (Photo: VIR).

- Many fund management companies were 'whistled'

The State Securities Commission has just fined a number of fund management companies for violating regulations in their operations, such as regulations on restrictions on employees, organizational structure, and arranging for employees to hold concurrent positions without permission. Specifically, Dragon Capital Vietnam Investment Fund Management JSC was fined VND125 million. Thai Duong Securities Investment Fund Management JSC was also recently fined VND65 million. SSI Fund Management LLC was fined VND165 million (according to Tien Phong).

- Banks are not allowed to lend money to buy certificates of deposit.

The State Bank has recently explained some regulations in Circular 06/2023 amending and supplementing some articles of Circular 39/2026 regulating lending activities of credit institutions and foreign bank branches (referred to as banks) to customers. According to the State Bank, banks are not allowed to lend money for deposits, including the purpose of buying deposit certificates, treasury bills, etc. (according to Thanh Nien).

- Exporting nearly 11 billion USD, wood enterprises work overtime, recruit workers

Many wood companies have started to organize workers to work overtime again, or recruit more workers, increasing the amount of imported wood by 5-10%. This is a positive signal showing that businesses are preparing raw materials for year-end orders. (See more)

- Nghe An accelerates, rises to the top in attracting foreign capital

From continuously ranking 20th or higher in attracting foreign investment, in the past 2 years, Nghe An has risen to the top with a milestone of over 1 billion USD. In the first 10 months of 2023, Nghe An ranked fourth in attracting newly registered foreign investment capital with 1.01 billion USD, only behind Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, and Hai Phong. If including the additional registered capital of 256.7 million USD, Nghe An's total FDI capital in 10 months is over 1.27 billion USD, ranking 9th in the country. (See more)

- 'Super shark' collects tens of millions of Vietnamese stocks

The fund group managed by Dragon Capital has spent hundreds of billions of VND to buy shares of Sacombank, Vinaconex, and FPT Retail during the recent adjustment period. In the session on November 6, Dragon Capital bought a total of 4 million STB shares of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank). This "shark" fund has continuously collected more than 21.4 million shares of this private bank in the past month. (See more)

- Lending money, 3 Big4 banks earn hundreds of thousands of billions of dong in profit

27 listed banks have lent out a total of 9 million billion VND in the first 9 months of 2023. From the above-mentioned loan amount, the banks have earned a total of 650,842 billion VND from interest on customer loans. The 3 leading banks in lending are BIDV, VietinBank and Vietcombank, respectively, earning hundreds of thousands of billion VND in interest. (See more)

- Despite receiving double the salary, the leader of Dam Sen Water Park still resigned.

After more than 10 years of working at Dam Sen Water Park JSC, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, suddenly submitted his resignation due to a change of work unit. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh received an income of more than 762 million VND in the first 9 months of the year. (See more)

Today's world oil prices show signs of rising after plummeting in the previous two sessions. Brent crude oil prices have fallen to $80/barrel, the lowest in the past three months.

The stock market on November 9 recorded the VN-Index increasing by 0.46 points, to 1,113.89 points. Real estate stocks continued to soar, but pressure from the banking group caused the VN-Index to only increase slightly. Order matching liquidity on the HoSE floor jumped to over VND20,000 billion.

The central exchange rate on November 9 increased by 17 VND. The USD price at commercial banks today increased slightly. The world USD price also increased.

Gold prices today on the international market fell rapidly due to the strengthening of the USD. Domestic gold prices also plummeted but the selling price remained above 70 million VND/tael.

Bank interest rates on November 9 recorded additional adjustments by Dong A Bank and PG Bank. Some banks lowered their 6-9 month term deposit interest rates to below 5%.

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