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Interbank forex rate reaches record high
The interbank forex rate Wednesday remained unchanged at VND20,723 a US dollar, a record high level set since Monday, according to Vietnam's central bank.
Thus, the ceiling forex rate at commercial banks was set at VND20,930 a US dollar.
The buying price of US dollar is listed at VND20,900 (Sacombank), VND20,925 (Vietcombank), VND20,925 (VietinBank), VND20,920 (ACB), VND20,910 (Eximbank) and VND20,925 (BIDV).
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Monday suddenly raised the forex rate by VND10 to VND20,723 a US dollar compared to last Saturday, sending the currency to a record low against the dollar.
Since the central bank seeks to narrow the gap between official and unofficial exchange rates, the dong reference rate was fixed at the weakest level since at least January 2005, according to Bloomberg.
Policy makers are stepping up efforts to reduce the disparity between the black market and official rates after the central bank devalued the dong by about 7 percent on February 11, the 4th such move in 15 months, Bloomberg said.
The SBV last Saturday also issued a decision to raise reserve requirement in foreign currency by 2 percent and ceiling dollar deposit rate was capped at 3 percent per year. The move aimed at increasing compulsory reserves in foreign currency to help stabilize the VND/USD exchange rate and increase Vietnam's forex reserves.
Increasing the forex reserve requirement and capping the foreign currency ceiling interest rate at below 3 percent is aimed at reducing the attractiveness of holding foreign currencies and putting pressure on dollar lending interest rates.
The Vietnam dong last Friday tumbled to all-time low as the SBV weakened the reference rate to VND20,718 a dollar compared to VND20,713 a dollar on Thursday.
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