Dollar price cools down

Dollar price at banks on Tuesday cooled down to VND20,700 from VND20,800 last Friday.

A banker in HCMC said that the dollar price on the inter-bank market was less than VND20,700 on Tuesday but banks wanted to earn higher profit so they kept the price at VND20,700 to the dollar.

The dollar last Friday surged as banks boosted their buying following a rumor that the central bank would pump VND70 trillion via the refinancing channel which would lead to a lower deposit rate in Vietnam dong and a narrower margin between Vietnam dong and dollar rates. Therefore, the dollar price increased by VND100 on that day, he said.

In addition, banks who had sold the U.S. dollar to buy Vietnam dong earlier was afraid of the greenback rising further so they bought back the dollar, stoking up the dollar demand during Thursday and Friday.

However, as the rumor turned out to be groundless while the dollar volume sold by exporters still outpaced demand, the dollar price has cooled down since last Saturday.

Governor Nguyen Van Giau in a press meeting last Saturday said that he still expected Vietnam balance of payments would have US$1 billion in surplus this year. – SGT

Tags: Vietnam banking industry, Vietnam finance, Vietnam financial, Vietnam forex market