[ti:Vietnam Has One of the Highest Rates of Consumer Savings] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The market research company Nielsen reports that Vietnam has one of the world's highest rates of consumer savings. [00:09.76]But observers disagree on whether it is a good sign. [00:15.72]Sixty-nine percent of Vietnamese surveyed said they put extra money into savings. [00:23.16]That compares with 66 percent of people in China and 62 percent in Indonesia. [00:32.72]As a developing nation, Vietnam is becoming increasingly wealthy. [00:38.68]The country's citizens are saving more, just as many people in countries around the world. [00:48.32]But observers, such as Binky Chadha of Deutsche Bank and former U.S. Federal Reserve chair Ben S. Bernanke [00:57.20]worry there is a surplus in savings in the world economy. [01:03.12]They say that can misrepresent the larger investment environment and lead to negative interest rates. [01:12.56]Negative interest rates mean people would have to pay to keep their savings in a bank. [01:20.84]In the U.S., surplus savings have pushed the stock market to record highs. [01:28.00]Experts say the market is nearing a bubble. [01:33.40]A bubble happens when there is a sudden increase in price over a short time period [01:39.60]that is not supported by the value of a product. [01:44.44]In Vietnam, the extra savings has also led to an asset bubble, especially in the housing market. [01:54.56]Vietnam's economy is growing quickly, but experts disagree on how to explain the wealth that it is being created. [02:04.60]Researchers at the company Oxford Analytica say there may not be enough productive investments available. [02:14.20]Savers are investing in luxury real estate that is feeding a bubble. [02:20.76]But Nielson Vietnam says being able to save so much money is a good sign from consumers. [02:29.76]Louise Hawley is managing director at Nielsen Vietnam. [02:35.56]She told VOA that as more and more people feel more certain about their future, [02:42.04]they are saving more rather than spending today. [02:47.24]However, the high savings rate could also mean people worry they will need the money for retirement. [02:56.40]This means Vietnam is part of a global trend identified by Chadha. [03:03.04]He noted that savings rates are going up, even though interest rates are going down. [03:11.16]He says people are not saving money to earn interest. [03:16.48]Instead, Chadha sees this as a sign that people are saving [03:21.48]because they fear they will not have enough money in the future. [03:26.96]Vietnam's savings rate is not uncommon. [03:30.96]Bernanke argued that Asia, especially China, has earned so much from exports [03:38.56]that the money has aided a worldwide savings surplus. [03:44.92]Recently, Vietnam has also become one of the developing Asian nations with high exports and a surplus. [03:54.76]Like China, Vietnam uses its surplus to buy U.S. Treasury bonds. [04:03.32]The high demand for U.S. bonds is also a reason the U.S. does not have to pay a lot of interest on its bonds. [04:13.20]This helps to lower interest rates. [04:18.12]Vietnam also uses its surplus to buy a lot of foreign money, mostly U.S. dollars. [04:27.08]The U.S. Treasury complained in a report this month [04:30.92]that this helps increase the value of U.S. dollars and lower the value of the Vietnamese currency. [04:40.00]Vietnam's exports seem even cheaper at a time when the Trump administration [04:46.04]wants U.S. consumers to buy fewer Vietnamese products. [04:52.80]Still, Hawley said there is reason for hope in Vietnam. [04:58.24]Her company's December survey showed Vietnam has one of the world's [05:04.00]highest levels of consumer confidence, just after India and the Philippines. [05:11.44]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM