Monetary policy of Asian countries in 2016 and lessons for Vietnam

Abstract

The Asia-Pacific region continued to be the growth momentum of the global economy in 2016, with forecasted
growth rate of 5.6% in spite of many events that shocked the global financial market. As inflation remained mostly
at low level across the area, monetary policy of many countries in the region were losened to support economic
growth, except for Thailand and Vietnam. As financial markets of the region were under great pressure after Fed
officially raised interest rates on December 15, 2016 and announced a roadmap for normalizing interest rates
faster than expected, monetary policies aimed at stabilizing the economy and monetary and financial markets
proved to be more effective in dealing with external shocks than monetary policy focused on stimulating the
economy in 2016