Vietnam dollar at gold shops tops vnd21,000, governor admits pressure

Gold shops in Vietnam raised dollar prices to over VND21,000 threshold after the central bank adjusted official rate by VND10 to VND20,628 today.

In Hanoi, gold shops in Ha Trung Street, the biggest forex center in the north, quoted dollar prices at VND21,000 and VND21,020 for bid and ask respectively.

Some other gold shops in Nguyen Thai Hoc street widen the gap between dollar bid and ask to prevent risks. They quoted dollar prices mostly at VND20,990 –VND20,030 for bid and ask, respectively.

According to local newswire VnExpress, the State Bank governor admitted that dong-dollar exchange rate may be under certain pressure of gold price volatility, especially when local gold prices have high premium to the global ones.

“Gold import will lead to higher dollar demand and if gold is imported through official gate, Vietnam will lose official dollar holding, if gold is illegally imported, dollar prices in the back market will rise” the newswire quoted the governor as saying.

Analysts said dollar higher demand and price hike also comes from due dollar loans and imports peak season at the year-end. – Stoxplus.com

Tags: vietnam gold, Vietnam gold market, Vietnam gold prices