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Businesses complain they cannot purchase foreign currencies
Many businesses have to wait 7-14 days to purchase dollars from banks. Some say they cannot wait that long.
Businesses weep bitterly
All businessmen shake their heads when asked if they can purchase dollars from banks these days.
Doan Trong Ly, Chairman of Aprocimex, a breeding, processing and import-export company, said that it is always very difficult to purchase foreign currencies.
In order to purchase foreign currencies, businesses have to go one of two ways: set up plans to purchase foreign currencies early, or purchase currencies other than dollars (Euro, for example) and then convert them into dollars. Meanwhile, businesses always have to pay a security of 20% at banks, and keep VND at banks while waiting to purchase dollars.
“In general, businesses are reticent to purchase dollars at this moment,” Ly said.
Ly’s company needs some $3-5 million to import animal feed materials and it will need to purchase dollars from many banks to get that sum. Ly could get the sum of dollars he needs from one bank, provided that he could wait one or two weeks. However, Ly said that he would miss the opportunity if he waited that long.
Vu Thanh Son, Deputy General Director of Hapro Trade Corporation, said that the corporation needs some $5 million a month. However, Son said that he is barely able to purchase dollars from banks these days due to short supply. Hapro has to wait seven days to get the foreign currencies it needs, which has been badly affecting its business.
Small businesses prove to be the biggest sufferers from the shortage of dollars.
The director of a medical equipment company said that he had to mobilise dollars from his staff to pay the security for an import deal. Meanwhile, the director of another company said that he has to collect dollars on the black market, accepting purchase prices much higher than the prices quoted by commercial banks.
“Banks are still quoting dollar prices every day, but they do not have dollars to sell. I don’t know how long the problem will last,” head of the import-export division of a company.
Banks also miserable
It is true that commercial banks do not have many dollars to sell. It is simply because businesses and individuals, who have earnings in foreign currencies, do not sell foreign currencies to banks. Many mortgage the currencies to borrow VND. If borrowing in VND, businesses can enjoy interest rate subsidies.
In the first four months of the year, the general credit grew by 11.6%, while the foreign currency credit decreased by 2.5%.
Right at the beginning of April, Vietcombank sent a document to its branches, instructing them to limit the volume of foreign currencies sold, and sell foreign currencies in accordance with priority order. The bank has even set a limit on the amount of foreign currencies every branch can sell per day. This is also the system many other banks are applying.
VietNamNet
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