UOB experts said that the strong growth thanks to its manufacturing and service industries in 2022 shows Vietnam's resilience after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank said the inflation rate is likely to remain stable, especially in the first half of 2023 thanks to the flexible management of monetary policy by the State Bank of Vietnam. At the end of December 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam said that it will operate monetary policy "flexibly" to keep the inflation rate at 4.5% in 2023, aiming to stabilise the currency and foreign exchange markets. Regarding the foreign exchange strategy, UOB forecast a upward momentum of VND/USD exchange rate in the four quarters of 2023./.