The governor of Vietnam's central bank, who is spearheading a campaign to reduce the country's reliance on cash transactions, has admitted he does not have a credit card or a personal bank account.

The official, Le Duc Thuy, told a Vietnamese newspaper Saigon Economic Times that the common usage of cash caused a lot of inconvenience and waste, and was risky.

But he then went on to admit he only ever used cash himself , saying he had absolutely no need of either a credit card or a bank account.

A banking law introduced in 1998 was designed to reduce the use of cash in a bid to cut tax evasion.

But cash transactions still account for more than half of all financial dealings in Vietnam.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service