UPDATE 2-Vietnam will cut rice exports 22 pct on inflation woes

(Adds traders' comments, global supply)

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, March 28 (Reuters) - Vietnam will cut rice exports by 22 percent this year, the government confirmed on Friday in a battle to rein in rocketing inflation at home that threatens to drive up prices and heighten supply security fears across Asia.

The world's second-biggest exporter will limit rice shipments to 3.5 milliion tonnes, from 4.5 million last year, a government statement quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as saying, after Hanoi imposed a limit for the first 10-month shipment last week [ID:nHAN342649].

Vietnam exported 859,000 tonnes of rice in the first three months of this year, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier, government figures show.

Communist-run Vietnam's decision is the latest in a series of measures by governments across Asia and as far as Egypt to ensure sufficient supplies of the staple food for growing populations at a time when global stockpiles have halved and prices have surged.

Medium-grade Thai 15 percent broken rice more than doubled to $735 a tonne free-on board Bangkok on Thursday, from $360 at the end of 2007.

For Vietnam, the target is inflation. Consumer prices rose by nearly 20 percent in March, the highest in more than 12 years.

"In order to stabilise food prices, the Prime Minister clearly stated that this year a maximum 3.5 million tonnes of rice will be exported," the government said in a statement on its Website (www.chinhphu.vn).