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Dollar prices increase, but no pressure on exchange rate found
The dollar price on the black market has been increasing for the last several years. However, there have been few transactions. Meanwhile, bankers have affirmed that they cannot see any pressure on the exchange rate.
In Hanoi, since June 16, when commercial banks began raising the dollar purchase prices, the dollar prices on the black market have also increasing significantly.
The owner of a gold and foreign currency shop on Ha Trung said the dollar prices on June 16 were 20,600-20,650 dong per dollar (Sale and purchase prices). The price levels represented the increase of 40 dong per dollar in comparison with the previous days. On the same day, the dollar prices quoted by Vietcombank were 20,600-20,700 dong per dollar.
Foreign currency traders continued raising the dollar prices on June 18. A gold shop on Hang Bac street in Hanoi quoted the dollar prices at 20,650-20,700 dong per dollar. The shop’s owner said that the prices were just 20,630-20,680 dong per dollar a day ago, on June 17.
“At the peak time of June 17, when banks pushed the sale prices up to 20,800 dong and bought at 20,700 dong, the dollar price soared to 20,710-20,740 dong per dollar,” she said.
Foreign currency traders say though the dollar prices have been increasing in the last several days, and the market remains quiet with very few transactions. A shop owner on Hang Bac street said that though the dollar purchase prices have increased, he still cannot collect dollars in big quantities.
The problem was that the dollar prices on the black market are just 20-30 dong higher than the prices quoted by commercial banks; therefore, people would rather sell dollars to banks than selling on the black market, which is considered illegal.
According to the shop owner, Vietcombank, the biggest foreign currency trader offered to purchase dollars at 20,700 dong per dollar on the same day.
Quang, a dollar trader on Ha Trung, also said that his sale prices are lower by 10 dong per dollar, while the purchase prices are higher by 20 dong per dollar than the bank rates, but only loyal clients make transactions these days.
He said that the volume of foreign currencies sold by his shop on June 17 was modest, just about 5000 dollars.
A dollar trader on Nguyen Hue Road in HCM City said that the dollar prices have been increasing on the black market for the last several days, not because of the higher demand, but because of the increasing prices quoted by commercial banks. Therefore, he said, the volume of trading these days remains low, at several thousands of dollars.
Lan, the owner of a gold shop on Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1 in HCM City, has also confirmed that the prices quoted by commercial banks have been increasing so rapidly that she cannot adjust her prices accordingly.
The continued dollar prices in the last several days have caused big worries among people, but experts have affirmed that they cannot see any pressure on the dong/dollar official exchange rate.
According to the Deputy General Director of a big joint stock bank, the dollar prices have been increasing recently partially because banks have been trying to purchase dollars to balance their foreign currency positions.
Meanwhile, another banker believes that the State Bank’s purchase of a big volume of dollars (1.2 billion dollars) to increase the foreign currency reserves in May, has led to the reduction of foreign currencies in circulation.
Some analysts believe that the dollar prices have been fluctuating because of the information about the halt of the operation of the Dung Quat Oil Refinery for two-month maintenance.
“Some people believe that petroleum importers will need more dollars to import petroleum products, which will push the dollar prices up,” he said.
Huynh Buu Son, a well known economist, thinks that the 100-200 dong per dollar increase in recent days is a reasonable adjustment. “The price increase is not worrying, because the exchange rate is still under the control of the State Bank,” he said.
Ly Xuan Hai, General Director of Asia Commercial Bank ACB, said that it is quite a normal thing for banks to raise the prices and then lower the prices. He does not see any worrying signs now, because the dollar prices now truly reflect the market supply and demand.
vietnamnet
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