A plan to boost the economy with low-denomination coins has been less than successful.
Vietnam's coin currency has failed to jingle with people preferring not to own cheap and rusty coins.
At the ongoing National Assembly session, a deputy questioned the State Bank of Vietnam governor Nguyen Van Giau over the absence of coins from local transactions.
The question recalled for me an event five years ago when Le Duc Thuy, the then governor of the central bank, introduced a handful of new low-denomination coins, guaranteeing that they help the economy a lot, especially with vending machines.
The former governor's enthusiasm and optimism seems to have been misplaced. Coins have not become a widely used currency so far. In fact they seem to have disappeared silently.
Some experts say people have lost their interest in the metal currency because of its low-quality material and low denominations.
Tran Du Lich, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City legislature delegation, said no one can feel happy keeping a coin cheap and rusty.
Lich said the currency value of the coins is low, so their construction quality has to be low.
However, the central bank in 1958 was very successful issuing coins worth 2 xu* and 5 xu. They were shining and beautiful.
People in Hanoi these days are decorating their bicycles with those coins, which until now still clearly read "National Bank of Vietnam 1958" as though they were minted yesterday.
Governor Giau's response, telecast live, that the bank will revoke rusty coins and continue to have others circulated, is not satisfactory.
Vietnam's currency is part of the country's prestige. Vietnamese people have the right to use beautiful and valuable money that they can be proud of.
By Luu Quang Pho
*xu to dong in Vietnam currency is like cent to dollar in the US.
