Vietnam central bank quotes dollar at vnd20,628- unchanged from Friday

Vietnam’s central bank set the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate at VND20,628 Monday, unchanged from Friday.

Currency dealers and bankers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City said the State Bank of Vietnam has kept its official rate at VND20,628 since Aug. 24 so it can buy dollars from the local market at low cost to boost its foreign-exchange reserves, as the country’s trade deficit continues to rise.

The government’s General Statistics Office said Friday that the deficit widened to $1 billion in September from $396 million in August.

For the first nine months of the year, the country posted a total trade deficit of $6.84 billion, narrowing from a $8.45 billion deficit in the same period last year, the office said.

Gold-shop rates rose as “demand for dollars strengthened over the weekend because many currency investors and trading firms are buying the greenback in anticipation the exchange rates will continue to rise towards the year-end,” said a dealer with a Hanoi-based commercial bank.

Currency dealers at gold shops forecast the dollar to move in a VND21,230-VND22,000 band this week.

Source Dow Jones

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

Posted by VBN on Sep 26 2011. Filed under Banking-Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry