Banks have maintained the buy/sell rates at VND19.000-19,100 per dollar to shrink distance between banks and free market. The quantity of foreign currency that businesses sell for banks shows a remarkably rising signal. This is a positive sign helping banks accumulate dollar capital to meet businesses and clients’ demand.
On Feb. 25, commercial banks maintained the selling rate at VND19,100 per dollar. However, the dollar buying price in some banks was very different. At ACB and BIVD, the USD/VND buy/sell rates remained 19,050, while Eximbank at VND19,055 per dollar. The constant adjustment of dollar/dong rates shows capacity and demand of banks.
Balance of foreign currency demand and supply will impact on exchange rates.
Contrary to banks, on the black market, the dollar was still going for VND19,350-19,500, up just VND150-200 against the previous day, suggesting that the central bank may have achieved its goal of narrowing the gap between the official and black market rates,. Many ideas said that the gap of dollar/dong rates between banks and free market would narrow as businesses intensively sold dollar for banks.
Over the past time, the market exchange rate has far-outstripped the official exchange rate, so businesses did not want to sell dollar for banks, causing a scarcity of dollar. Therefore, the last adjustment of exchange rate created a positive signal for the market. In a parallel effort to increase US dollar liquidity in the economy, the central bank yesterday also set a cap of 1 per cent per year on interest paid on dollar deposits at credit institutions. Before this policy change, banks were paying interest of 4-5 per cent per year on US dollar deposits.
With the current dollar buying rate, banks will lure more clients. Exporters enjoy the highest profit from the rate increase. Vice director of Kim Phat Ltd., said ‘As an exporter we are happy as exchange rates are increased and are not much different from open market. The increase helps businesses ease costs and surge wage and bonus for laborers’. Meanwhile, importers are not happy with the change because they must spend much money to buy dollar for payment.
However, in the modern situation, price hike of import goods compared to local ones will bring interests for local makers.
Reported by T.Huynh – Translated by A.C
