Law blocks IMF request

August 04, 2003 | 18:16

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AN INDEPENDENT agency will not be allowed to audit the State Bank – a prerequisite of an IMF poverty programme – as it would be illegal under Vietnamese law.

Under Vietnamese law, the State Bank must be audited by a state agency

“We found there was no need to audit the State Bank using an international and independent firm. In fact, the current law does not allow us to do such a thing,” Ke said.
Under Vietnamese law, the central bank must be audited by a state agency.
The request for an independent audit was one of several stipulations in the IMF’s third review of the $368-million Poverty Reduction & Growth Facility (PRGF) programme in June.
The IMF has also asked that the State Bank accept Article VIII on treasury security and that the central bank remove restrictions on foreign exchange management.
Deputy Governor Ke met with central bank officials last week to prepare their response to the review.
The IMF has offered to host further talks on issues arising from the review, but Ke has declined for the time being.
“We will do it by ourselves. The central bank and concerned departments will work with the Ministry of Finance and then we can arrange the necessary meeting with IMF’s chief representative in Vietnam later,” Ke said. There is no need to invite another IMF team mission to come to Vietnam at the moment,” he said.
The IMF Executive Board will review its latest meetings with Vietnamese officials and complete the team mission’s report in September.
Vietnam has received $158 million from the IMF since PRGF launched in April 2001.

By Xuan Ha

vir.com.vn

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