STATE BANK OF VIETNAM BANKING ACADEMY Foreign Language Faculty GRADUATION THESIS A STUDY OF SOLUTIONS TO THE INFLATION IN VIETNAM FROM 2000 TO PRESENT Supervisors: Prof. Tô Kim Ngọc Nguyễn Thị Hiền Hạnh, M.A Student: Đinh Thị Huyền ID number: 11A7510055 Hanoi, June 2012 Graduation Thesis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to forward the deepest of my appreciation and gratitude to my supervisors, Ms. To Kim Ngoc (Prof. Nguyen Thi Hien Hanh (M.) for their patience and constructive advice throughout the course of the thesis.
Not only did them help me with invaluable suggestions, I have also learned a lot from them. The brotherly treatment they accorded me has served as an inspiration for the completion of this study. I credit every piece of strength of this study to my supervisors and any weakness to myself. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to all banking staff at Techcombank – Hoan Kiem Branch for the three –month internship, in which I experienced the professional working environment and gained a considerable number of practical knowledge.
Moreover, I am deeply grateful for all my classmates in ATCB K11 of Banking Academy and all my best friends for their timely encouragements and wonderful discussions during all stages of the study. Above all, I am indebted to my parents for their love, affection and sacrifice to support me in completing this work. Đinh Thị Huyền ATCB – K11 – Banking Academy Page i BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS ABSTRACT One of the prime objectives of governments is achieving stable macroeconomic condition. The objective requires that prices be kept to a reasonably stable level.
High and persistent inflation introduces uncertainties into the economy and may lead to the slowdown of economic growth by discouraging domestic as well as foreign investments. It may also cause balance of payments problems, high nominal interest rate and unemployment rate. The study aims at understanding the forces behind the current inflation process in Vietnam, especially period 2000 to present. The findings suggest that the determinants of inflation in Vietnam from demand-pull and cost-push causes.
The most important forces behind demand-pull inflation are easy monetary policy, ineffectiveness of fiscal policy, weak management of foreign capital inflows. The long run determinants of cost-push inflation, on the other hand, are the increase in resident’s income, the cost of imported materials, the hike of gas and electricity prices, and the rising trend of interest rate. To contain inflation, therefore, the Government implemented the number of solutions such as not only the tight monetary and fiscal policies, but also export encouragement, deficit reduction, price control as well as minimum wage reform. Finally, the paper also figures out and assesses some weaknesses of all solutions applied, followed by recommendations for further accurate and synchronous measures in order to curb inflation, which stabilizes macroeconomic environment in a long period.
Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 ii BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iii LIST OF FIGURES. v LIST OF TABLES.
vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 1 CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND OF INFLATION .1 DEFINITION OF INFLATION .2 MEASURES OF INFLATION .1 Consumer Price Index (CPI) .2 Production Price Indices (PPIs).3 Cost of Living Price Index (CLI). Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Deflator inflation index. CLASSIFICATIONS OF INFLATION.
CAUSES AND EFECTS OF INFLATION.1 Causes of inflation .2 Effects of inflation. INFLATION SITUATION IN SOME COUNTRIES .1 Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe .2 Inflation in Venezuela .3 Inflation in China. 15 CHAPTER 2: INFLATION IN VIETNAM, PERIOD 2000 TO PRESENT .1 HISTORY OF INFLATION IN VIETNAM FROM 2000- 2012 .4 Period 2010 – up to now .2 CAUSES OF INFLATION IN VIETNAM .1 Demand -pull cause .2 Cost –Push causes .3 CONSEQUENCES OF HIGH AND UNSTABLE LEVEL OF INFLATION VIETNAM. 31 Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 iii BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS 2.1 Unstable macroeconomic environment .2 High nominal interest rate .3 Decrease real income and living standard.4 Impact on unemployment rate .5 Impact on balance of payments .4 SOLUTIONS APPLIED FOR CONTROLLING INFLATION IN VIETNAM AND RESULTS.1 The tight monetary policy.2 The tight fiscal policy .3 Boosting production and business, encouraging export, reducing trade deficit .4 Minimum wage reform .5 Price control, goods demand –supply balance .5 SHORTCOMINGS OF INFLATIONTORY SOLUTIONS APPLIED IN VIETNAM.
42 CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER SOLUTIONS TO 44 CONTROL INFLATION IN VIETNAM .1 RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN POLICIES APPLIED .3 INDEPENDENT STATE BANK OF VIETNAM .5 SELF- ANTI – INFLATION SOLUTIONS FOR ENTERPRISES .6 STRENGTHEN SOCIAL WELFARE .7 ACCURACY AND SPEEDING UP INFORMATION DISSEMINATION 48 CONCLUSION. 50 Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 iv BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Demand-pull inflation and Cost-push inflation curve .2: The short-term Phillips curve .3: China’s inflation rate from 2009 to 2011 .1: The CPI in Vietnam, period 2000-2003 .2: The CPI in Vietnam, period 2007-2009 .3: Vietnam - CPI inflation from 2009 to the early 2012 .4: CPI in Vietnam , period Jan 2011 – Apr 2012 .5: The credit growth, money supply and inflation, period 2000 -2011 .6: The credit growth and M2 in Vietnam from 1994- the early 2012 .7: Vietnam Government Budget, period 2000-2012 .8: The investment structure of the public sector, non-state and FDI, 1995- 2010 .9: FDA, ODA, reimbursement in Vietnam, period 1997-2007 .10: The gasoline prices in Vietnam, Jan 2011- Jan 2012 .11: Electricity price from March 2009 to 2011 .12: Vietnam GDP growth rate from 2002 to 2012 .13: The real, nominal interest rate and inflation in VN, 2010 to June 2011 .14: Vietnam unemployment rate from Jan 2000 to Jan 2012 .15: Vietnam balance of trade from Jan 02 to Jan 2012. 37 Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 v BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Hanke Hyperinflation index for Zimbabwe, 2007-2008 .2: Global inflation rate: CPI YoY % change, 2008 .1: Situation of some socio-economic indicators in 2004 (Unit: %).2: Growth rate of consumer prices period 2004 – 2006 (Unit: %) .3: ICOR in Vietnam, 2001-2007 .4: The minimum wage of State-owned enterprises from 2001 to 2012 .5: The inflation and unemployment rate in Vietnam from 2000 to 2011. 35 Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 vi BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BCV Venezuela’s Central Bank CLI Cost of Living Price Index CPI Consumer Price Index EVN Electricity of Vietnam Group FDI Foreign Direct Investment FII Foreign Indirect Investment GDP Gross Domestic Product GOS General Statistic Office HHIZ Hanke Hyperinflation Index for Zimbabwe ICOR Incremental Capital Output Ratio IFC International Financial Institution IMF International Monetary Fund INPC National Consumer Price Index ODA Official Development Assistance OMO Open Market Operations PPIs Production Price Indices SBV The State banks of Vietnam SeABank Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank SOEs State-owned enterprises USD United State Dollar VAT Value Added Tax VNBA Vietnam Bank Association VPBank Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Private Enterprises WO World Bank WTO World Trade Organization Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 vii BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS INTRODUCTION Inflation has become an undeniable phenomenon that consumes non-stop efforts from policymakers and the press that creates the pressure on the socio- economic status in global scale, including Vietnam.
Therefore, macroeconomic stability especially inflation control –one of the four most pressing issues regarding macroeconomic stability (together with exchange rate management, budget deficits and trade deficit) is the key item on Vietnam’s policy agenda in the moment. For more than two decades now, Vietnam underwent hyperinflation period 1980s-1990s. It is the persistent hyperinflation, the joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006, the great influx of foreign exchange in 2007-2008, and the global economic crisis that influenced the economy and triggered the economic reforms since late 1980s. Although the Government and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have attempted to implement a number of solutions to curb inflation and stabilize the economy, the inflation movement has still fluctuated from year to year because of these ineffective and asynchronous remedies.
Hence, the paper examines inflation with the desire to understand more comprehensively the causes and consequences both in theory and practice, especially in Vietnam from 2000 up to the early 2012. So the study of “Solutions to the inflation in Vietnam from 2000 to present” was carried out to answer some following questions: What is definition, causes and effects of inflation in theory? In cases of Vietnam, what are the main reasons and consequences impacting on Vietnam’s economy, especially period 2000 to present? What are the solutions applied to curb inflation in Vietnam and the results? What are the shortcomings of these policies and recommendation for further solutions? Because inflation is closely related to various issues such as exchange rate, interest rate, economic growth, unemployment, balance of payment, this study was conducted by applying the systematic research methods, including dialectical materialism, materialistic dialectics, inductive and deductive method, comparison and contrast, combined with the illustration of tables and figures through secondary data collected from various sources. Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 1 BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS In summary, in order to support the readers and person interested in this topic, the study is organized into three clear and coherent parts. Chapter 1: Background of inflation – in which the fundamental knowledge of inflation in definitions, measures, types, causes and effects, and the study of inflation in some countries are presented.
Chapter 2: Inflation in Vietnam period 2000 to present – in which giving an overview of inflation in Vietnam: the history, main causes and consequences on the socio-economic situation and then the solutions applied and results. Chapter 3: Recommendations for further solutions – in which some suggestions are released for tackling inflation in Vietnam. Đinh Thị Huyền - ATCB – K11 2 BANKING ACADEMY GRADUATION THESIS CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND OF INFLATION 1.1 DEFINITION OF INFLATION Inflation is a global phenomenon in present day. There is hardly any country in the capitalist world today which is not afflicted by the specter of inflation.
It is on account of this that the phenomenon of inflation has widely attracted the attention of the economists all over the world. However, there is no generally accepted definition of the term “inflation” as it is a highly controversial term which has undergone many modifications. Crowther defines inflation “as a state in which the value of money is falling because prices are rising” (Inflation and Deflation, Sikkim Manipal University). But this definition is defective and does not offer a complete picture of the phenomenon of inflation.
This definition has been criticized on two grounds: First, according to Crowther every increase in the price level is inflationary and has harmful effects on the economy. On the contrary, it serves as a stimulant for the revival of economy. Crowther’s definition emphasizes the symptoms rather than the causes of the disease. The rise in the price level is a symptom rather than the cause of inflation.
This definition fails to explain why the price level increase from time to time Prof. Kemmerer, Professor of Economics and Finance at Princeton University defines inflation as “Too much currency in relation to the physical volume of business being done” (High prices and Inflation, 1920). However, this definition is not satisfactory. Obviously this definition involves a comparison between the two quantities – the volume of currency on the one side and the volume of physical goods and services on the other side.
The difficulty with this definition is that it suffers from vagueness. It is not possible to determine accurately the demand for money. There is no dependable technique whereby the physical volume of goods and services can be accurately converted into the demand for money. As such Kemmerer’s definition cannot be looked upon as satisfactory definition Prof.
Coulbourne emphasizes the same point as has been done by Prof. Kemmerer in the above definition.