Economic news review

Domestic news

In the foreign exchange market session on March 17, the State Bank listed the central exchange rate at 24,794 VND/USD, an increase of 15 VND compared to the previous session.

The State Bank of Vietnam listed the USD buying price at 23,605 VND/USD, 50 VND higher than the floor rate; while the USD selling price was listed at 25,983 VND/USD, 50 VND lower than the ceiling rate.

On the interbank market, the dollar-dong exchange rate closed at 25,530 VND/USD, up 20 VND compared to the session on March 14.

The dollar-dong exchange rate on the free market remained unchanged at buying while decreasing by 40 VND at selling, trading at 25,740 VND/USD and 25,800 VND/USD.

On March 17, the interbank money market, the average interbank VND interest rate decreased by 0.06 - 0.09 percentage points for all terms from 1 month or less compared to the previous session, specifically: overnight 4.24%; 1 week 4.34%; 2 weeks 4.46% and 1 month 4.54%. The average interbank USD interest rate decreased by 0.01 - 0.05 percentage points for all terms, trading at: overnight 4.29%; 1 week 4.35%; 2 weeks 4.41%, 1 month 4.45%.

Government bond yields in the secondary market remained flat for the 3-year term while decreasing for the remaining terms, closing at: 3-year 2.16%; 5-year 2.32%; 7-year 2.66%; 10-year 2.96%; 15-year 3.15%.

Yesterday, in the open market operations, on the mortgage channel, the State Bank offered VND20,000 billion for a 7-day term, VND10,000 billion for a 35-day term and VND5,000 billion for a 91-day term, with interest rates at 4.0%. There were VND19,720.63 billion in winning bids for a 7-day term, no winning bids for the other two terms; VND31,202.96 billion maturing. The State Bank did not offer SBV bills; there was no maturing volume.

Thus, the State Bank of Vietnam withdrew a net VND11,482.33 billion from the market through open market operations yesterday. There were VND74,776.44 billion circulating on the mortgage channel; there were no treasury bills circulating on the market.

Real estate and financial stocks led yesterday's session, the stock market closed in green. At the end of the session, VN-Index recovered strongly by 10.11 points (+0.76%) to 1,336.26 points; HNX-Index increased by 4.05 points (+1.66%) to 246.77 points; UPCoM-Index increased by 1.05 points (+1.06%) to 100.43 points. Market liquidity decreased with a transaction value of over VND22,200 billion. Foreign investors net sold more than VND173 billion on all three exchanges.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the total accumulated state budget revenue in the first two months of 2025 is estimated at VND 499.8 trillion, equal to 25.4% of the estimate (central budget is estimated at 25.5% of the estimate; local budget is estimated at 25.1%), up 25.7% over the same period in 2024. Of which: domestic revenue is estimated at 27.3% of the estimate, up 28.9%; revenue from crude oil is 15.3% of the estimate, down 17.1%; revenue from import-export balance is 15.5% of the estimate, up 6.6%.

Regarding state budget expenditure, the total accumulated state budget expenditure in the first two months is estimated at VND 293.8 trillion, equal to 11.5% of the estimate, up 13.2% over the same period in 2024. Of which: development investment expenditure is estimated at VND 60.4 trillion, equal to 7.6% of the estimate decided by the National Assembly, the disbursement rate is estimated at 7.32% of the development investment capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister; debt interest payment is estimated at 21.1% of the estimate, down 7.1% over the same period; regular expenditure is estimated at 13.4% of the estimate, up 15.9%.

International News

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that total retail sales and core retail sales in the country rose 0.2% and 0.3% month-on-month in February, after falling 1.2% and 0.6% in January (revised from declines of 0.4% and 0.9% in the preliminary report), both worse than the forecasts of 0.6% and 0.3% increases. Compared to the same period in 2024, total retail sales increased 3.1%, narrowing from the 3.9% increase in January.

Industrial output rose 5.9% year-on-year in February, down from 6.2% in January but still above expectations of 5.3%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Meanwhile, retail sales rose 4.0% year-on-year, surpassing the previous month's 3.7% increase and the highest since November 2024.

Experts say the growth has been supported by subsidies, especially for mobile phones and home appliances. However, the effect may fade over time. On the other hand, the labor market is under pressure, with the unemployment rate rising to 5.4% in February from 5.1% in January, reaching a two-year high.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/diem-lai-thong-tin-kinh-te-ngay-173-161473-161473.html