At the regular meeting between the government and localities on July 3, governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Le Minh Hung said that the national foreign exchange reserves reached approximately US$42 billion.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the foreign exchange reserves of Vietnam have continuously increased for the past five years, from US$25.4 billion in 2012 to US$45 billion this year.
Vietnam is currently pursuing the guideline of reserves equivalent to 12 weeks’ (3 months) worth of subsequent year’s imports, which was used as the accepted measure by IMF. Countries having foreign exchange reserves equivalent to 18-24 weeks’ worth of the following year’s imports are called “the billionaire”.
In first nine months of 2017, Vietnam imported about US$154 billion worth of goods with an average of US$4 billion per week. These figures have been significantly manipulated by export activities of Samsung, a South Korea-based mobiles and high-tech electronic products manufacturer. However, Vietnam is expected to reach its target.
