Banks selling US dollar for Vietnamese dong at a higher rate than their posted rate will be "strictly punished," the State Bank of Viet Nam has said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on June 19 called on relevant ministries to work with enterprises to purchase entire commercial rice stockpiles from farmers and boost exports. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) were assigned the task to prevent a fall in rice prices and help farmers avoid possible losses. 

Vietnamese banks have more than enough funds to cover compulsory reserves after attracting deposits by raising their interest rates following an official rate increase last week, the central bank has said. The State Bank of Vietnam raised its base rate to 14 percent from 12 percent, effective June 11, and banks increased their rates closer to a ceiling of 21 percent on deposits and loans in the Vietnamese dong, up from the 18 percent in effect since May 19.

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in Vietnam has officially opened its biggest branch to date in Ha Noi.

Commercial banks this week continued raising long-term deposit interest rates, to around 18.5 per cent per year, in an attempt to attract new deposits, however, depositors are not likely to join in long-term saving during the current period of interest rate changes.

Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of footwear to Brazil with a turnover of about $19 million for the first five months of the year, Vietnam News Agency reported. T he Southeast Asian country's footwear exports to Brazil increased by 55%, compared with the same period last year, the report said, citing a Brazilian shoe industry group. Brazil imported more than 17 million pairs of shoes from Vietnam by the end of May, the report said.

The stock market regulator should restore the intraday trading band to five percent to allow the index to recover from its six-month slump, analysts and fund managers said.

The VN-Index of 155 listed companies rose for a second straight day on Friday to close at 372.7 points after falling for six weeks in a row.

Farmers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the country's main rice-growing area, have expanded their rice fields by 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) after the grain's price increased, Nong Nghiep Viet Nam newspaper reported, without saying how big a percentage increase this represents.

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Giau talks about the latest exchange rate adjustment and monetary policy pursued by the State Bank.

Could you please tell us the reasons for the VND/US$ exchange rate adjustment?

Vietnam's central bank left the value of the dong against the dollar virtually unchanged Thursday, a day after an effective 2 percent devaluation as the economy struggles with double-digit inflation and trade imbalances.