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SBV calms public, dollar responds favourably
The dollar price quickly escalated to VND17,500/US$1 on July 21 after the Ministry of Finance announced the 30% petrol price increase. However, the price dropped quickly after the State Bank of Vietnam reassured the public that it had enough foreign currencies to stabilise the market.
The dollar price hit the VND17,500/US$1 level on July 21, when people heard the bad news about the sharp petrol price hike.
The dollar price increase immediately caught people’s attention, as they had seen the dollar price decreasing the days before. Before the dollar price soared to VND17,500/US$1, it was selling at VND16,725/US$1.
The State Bank of Vietnam said that foreign currency traders have been taking advantage of the petrol price hike to push dollar prices up to get bigger profit: the dollar price increased not because of the supply and demand imbalance.
The bank said that VND16,700/US$1 at this moment is the most suitable rate, and truly reflects the supply of dollars and the demand of the market. It, once again, affirmed that it has enough dollars to interfere in the market if necessary.
However, the dollar skyrocketing, once again, showed the sensitivity of the currency in the black market.
A lot of people rushed to sell dollars when the dollar price unexpectedly rose on July 21, which was also considered one of the reasons which made the dollar price drop just half a day after it increased.
In late July 22, the dollar was traded at VND16,700-16,800/US$1 on the black market, a bit lower than that offered by commercial banks.
The State Bank of Vietnam advised people not to rush to buy dollars the moment they see the dollar price increasing or they will suffer. Dollar prices will have to decrease because there is no reason for them to continue rising when the supply is profuse.
Techcombank, a joint-stock bank, on July 22 also released a notice, which said that individuals who have the demand to purchase dollars to serve business abroad, overseas study or health care should contact banks directly rather than purchasing dollars at high prices on the black market.
On July 22, commercial banks unanimously showed their attitude to the sharp price increases on the black market by lowering the dollar sale price sharply to VND16m810/US$1. Meanwhile, the banks purchased dollars at VND16,720/US$1, which showed a very big gap between the sale and the purchase price of VND90/US$1.
In the latest news, the dollar price once again hit the VND17,000/US$1 threshold this morning. Foreign current exchange shops on Ha Trung, Phung Hung and Kim Ma streets offered to sell dollars at VND17,000/US$1, while they purchased at VND16,850/US$1. However, experts still believe that the dollar price will become stable in some days.
Gold is now trading at VND18.9-19.1mil/tael, a VND30,000/tael decrease over the highest peak level in recent days.
Domestic gold prices have dropped since the gold prices in the world market dropped by $15 in New York to $948.5/oz last night.
VNN
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