VOA常速英语2008年-Vietnam Investors Conference Postponed

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
11 March 2008

Vietnam's financial markets have had a tumultuous year. The once high-flying stock market has fallen more than 30 percent, since January 1, and inflation has ballooned. A major investors¹' conference was scheduled to start Tuesday in Hanoi ,but last week, the government called it off. Matt Steinglass has more from Hanoi.

The Euromoney Vietnam Investment Forum² was supposed to bring hundreds of the world's top money managers to Hanoi. The scheduled keynote speaker was Sandy Flockhart, head of Asia operations for HSBC - one of the world's top-five banks.

But, HSBC spokeswoman To Quynh says, last Thursday, HSBC got a call saying Flockhart would have to reschedule.

Quynh says the government asked Euromoney, the conference's organizer, to postpone³ it until September.

The government said it was worried about "a combination of pressing macro and micro-economic concerns." Vietnam's stock market is the worst performer in Asia this year.

But investors criticized the decision, saying the government had missed an opportunity to reassure⁴ investors and ask for advice. Le Dang Doanh is an outspoken⁵ Vietnamese economist⁶ and a former advisor⁷ to the prime minister.

Doanh says the more difficult the situation is, the more important it is to have an open dialogue with investors, to calm their suspicions and concerns.

Vietnamese officials have gotten used to reporting good news. The country's economy has grown more than seven percent a year since 2001.

After Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization last year, foreign investment flooded in - topping $20 billion last year.

But the influx⁸ of dollars created upward pressure on the exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong, which could have hurt exports. To keep the dong from rising, Vietnam's State Bank bought dollars and that contributed to inflation. Benedict Bingham, the International Monetary⁹ Fund's representative in Hanoi, explains.

"That left the banking¹⁰ system with an excess of dong. And, it was that surplus of dong liquidity¹¹ in the first half of last year that generated the rise in bank credit, and that rise in bank credit contributed to the increase in inflationary pressure," said Bingham.

Meanwhile, the dollar was falling, making it even harder to keep the dong from rising. Prices for the commodities Vietnam imports were rising, too.

Then, Vietnam had its coldest winter in 40 years, driving up food prices. In February, inflation was nearly 16 percent.

To fight inflation, the government raised interest rates and ordered banks to reduce loans and increase their reserves.

But that hurt the stock market, as investors sold shares to repay loans. The Vietnam index has lost about a third of its value this year.

Some investors criticized the government for acting¹² too late and too harshly. Peter Ryder, chief executive office of Indochina Capital, says Vietnam is still in a learning phase as its capital markets develop.

"I would kind of give them about a C-plus at this point in time. The fact that they are trying to do something about it instead of ignoring the situation is definitely a plus," said Ryder. "The fact that they have struck as dramatically as they have as late in the game is a bit of a minus."

Ryder and other foreign investors still have long-term confidence in Vietnam's markets. The economy still is expected to grow by more seven percent this year.

But on Monday, the IMF's Bingham pressed the government to fight inflation by allowing the dong to rise against the dollar, rather than by setting targets for the amount of credit banks can extend.

"I think the government is fully¹³ aware of the problems posed by the rise in inflation, and also of the widening of the trade deficit¹⁴. I think what we are also seeing now, however, is a broader debate on the instruments to address the rise in inflation in this economy. And I think that debate isn't settled yet," said Bingham.

Last week, Vietnam said it would allow the dong's exchange rate to float a bit more freely - just half a percentage point around the official target. The question is whether this will be enough to keep the economy from overheating and to reassure jumpy investors.

Peter Ryder is not sure.

"I still think we have not see the end of the volatility¹⁵ and perhaps even downward pressures," he said. "So, you know, buckle¹⁶ up!"

With rising inflation, the falling dollar and volatile¹⁷ stock markets, investors and government economic officials expect to have their hands full.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

4 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

11 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

15 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

16 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

17 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。