Vietnam Central Bank to Sell Dollars to Local Banks
The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, will supply U.S. dollars to commercial banks which lack the greenback, state media reported on Nov 26.
This is one of the measures announced by the central bank Nov 25 to cool down the foreign exchange market, the Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted the SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau as saying.
Those commercial banks whose deficit in forex balance exceeds 5% will be eligible to buy dollars from the SBV and must sell these greenbacks to the needy enterprises, especially import firms, Giau asserted.
On November 25, the central bank announced a number of measures to stabilize domestic monetary market, which was doomed by gold and dollar speculations and soaring credit growth.
These measures include narrowing the daily trading band of the dong against the U.S. dollar to plus and minus 3%, down from the previous 5%, and devalued the dong by 5.44% to VND17,961 effective Nov 26.
Dollar exchange rate on free market has cautiously reacted after the central bank’s move. Private gold shops offered to buy dollar at VND19,400 and sell at VND19,600 on this morning, compared to VND19,850 four days ago.
The SBV set the dollar exchange rate lower at VND17,958 on November 27, down VND3 against the previous day. Vietcombank meanwhile sold at VND18,482, compared with VND18,490 on November 26. (Youth)
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