Nguyet Thao
An unidentified bank teller holds U.S. dollar banknotes. The central bank has reassured the market that it will keep the exchange rate steady after the rate approached the upper limit on November 18 - PHOTO: MINH KHUE
In a statement released on November 18, the State Bank of Vietnam said the exchange rate was still below the ceiling. Having evaluated foreign currency supply and demand and factors on the market, the central bank said there are three reasons for keeping the exchange rate unchanged.
First, foreign currency supply remains high while there is no huge demand. From January to October, the nation had a trade surplus of US$2.36 billion while the total balance of payments ran a surplus of over US$11 billion.
Second, foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursements and incoming remittances have increased and the situation is expected to stay positive in the coming time.
Third, foreign currency trading on the market remains normal. Banks have net bought foreign currencies from customers while all demands for foreign currency have been fully met.
The exchange rate on November 18 kept shooting up and almost hit the ceiling, stoking speculation about an exchange rate adjustment in the coming time.
Vietcombank quoted its dollar selling price at VND21,420, surging by VND45 against the previous day and nearing the upper limit of VND21,458 permitted by the central bank.
Meanwhile, Techcombank and Eximbank sold a dollar at VND21,420 and VND21,415 respectively.
A source told the Daily on November 18 that rising demand for the greenback of enterprises had led the dollar to appreciate in recent days.
Many importers have purchased dollars to fund their goods imports for the year-end sale season. Meanwhile, enterprises have taken out foreign-currency credit to expand production given low interest rates, so they have to buy dollars now to repay loans.
In addition, banks have also bought dollars to reduce their negative foreign currency positions.
Nguyen Tien Dat, vice president of Balance Sheet Management of HSBC Vietnam Bank, said banks have stepped up foreign currency purchases due to high dong liquidity in October and low interest rates.
The demand has increased recently after the dong- dollar exchange rate reached a high psychology-driven level of VND21,300, prompting banks to pick dollars to improve their foreign currency positions.
However, the central bank’s dollar purchases have left the biggest impact on the exchange rate. Its move aims to raise market demand and curb dong appreciation.
At present, the exchange rate adjustment is likely to happen as the dong rise will hit exports, the source said.
Earlier, at a question-and-answer session before the National Assembly in September, the central bank’s governor Nguyen Van Binh said that there were no grounds for an exchange rate revision. If any, the dong would devaluate by only 1.43% this year to support exports, he noted.
This year, the central bank has revised up the exchange rate by 1%.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
