JANUARY MACRO RECAP: A POSITIVE START TO THE YEAR

• During the beginning of this year, there was a slight rise in inflation and risk assets outperformed. CPI rose 0.51% mom and 2.65% yoy in January 2018, the highest rise seen in the past three years. Stocks also had a very positive start this year, with the VNIndex and HNXIndex rising by 12.8% and 9.0% YTD, respectively.
• We view the OMO rate cut of 25 bps in January as a passive response to low interbank rates, rather than a step towards further monetary easing. The policy makers sent a strong message to continue to consolidate business confidence in the macro environment early in the year, and we expect both monetary and fiscal policies to be accommodative this year.

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