The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on May 22 issued a decision no.1250/QD-NHNN on the prime interest rate in VND, applied from June 1, 2009.

Accordingly, the prime interest rate in VND continues to stay at 7% a year.

On the same day, the SBV also announced several interest rates which will take effect on June 1, 2009. Specifically, the refinancing rate and rediscount rate between the SBV and credit organisations are 7.0% and 5.0% per year respectively. The overnight rate in the inter-bank electronic payment and the rate of loans to finance short balances in clearing transactions between SBV and commercial banks is 7% per year.

Hanoi urban railway keeps on track

An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth US$ 350 million for building the Hanoi urban railway route from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, was signed between Vietnam’s Department of Railway’s and the Sixth China Railway’s Group Ltd. (SCRG), in Hanoi on May 22.

The Cat Linh – Ha Dong railway route is a key national project that was chosen to mark the millennium anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.

Under the contract, the SCRG will survey, design, provide the equipment and manufacture 54 passenger coaches as well as construct viaducts and railway stations.

The project is scheduled for completion in five years from the date the contract is signed.

The Cat Linh – Ha Dong route will be 13 km long and include 12 stations spaced 1 km apart.

The route will include four-car or six-car trains that will carry 1,300 and 2,000 passengers respectively, with the capacity to transport 28,500 passengers per hour.

The project has an investment of US$552 million, of which 85% is in the form of loans from China. As scheduled, the route will be operational by 2014 to serve the traveling demands of Hanoian people. 

Vietnamese tea’s trademark protected in 70 foreign markets

Currently, Vietnamese tea products have been exported to 110 nations and territories in the world with trademarks registered and protected in 70 foreign markets.

According to the Vietnam Tea Association, Vietnamese tea enterprises have exported around 28,000 tonnes of various varieties of their product since the beginning of the year, earning a turnover of US$35 million, up 10 percent in volume and 9 percent in value against the same period last year. 

Vietnamese enterprises are now boosting exports, striving to export 117,000 tonnes of tea. They expect to earn a turnover of US$167 million this year. 

Rice prices fall, steel rises 

Export rice prices have fallen by nine to 19 percent since the peak last November, the Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Development said recently.

The export price for five and 25 percent broken rice has reduced to US$405 and $375 a ton respectively.

The falling price of export rice price has also led to the reduction of rice prices in Mekong Delta provinces. Since the beginning of the week, rice fell steeply and now stands at VND4,100 to 4,300 a kilogram.

In related news, fertilizer costs in the Mekong Delta have also fallen, with prices dropping VND200 to 2,000 a kilogram over last month.

In Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Can Tho provinces, the price of urea and DAP fertilizers has fallen by VND200 and VND1,000, respectively, to stand at VND6,400 and VND7,700 a kilogram.

Prices have dropped due to large quantities of fertilizer being imported in the beginning of the summer-autumn crop and low demand.

The world fertilizer price has also reduced after months of increases.

Coffee growers, however, are seeing some good news after months of falling prices, with prices of coffee in the Central Highlands having risen in recent days.

Coffee has increased by VND1,300 to 1,400 a kilogram, and now stands at VND25,400.

This has come on the back of world coffee prices, which have increased to US$1,539 a ton.

Builders in the country are not reaping any caffeine benefits though, with high demand and low stocks having driven steel prices in Hanoi to rise by ten percent in one week.