Dollar Surges to VND17,400/US$1 in Vietnam

Prices of the U.S. dollars suddenly strengthened and leapt to around VND17,400/US$1 on the unofficial markets with more acting trading early this week after the widening of the dollar/dong trading band to 3 per cent, the VnExpress online newspaper reported.

 

An expert said the sudden increase might have resulted from the rising demand of smugglers for the dollar to illegally import gold to get a wide profit margin since local gold was nearly VND2 million per tael higher than global prices.

 

Companies, meanwhile, have a traditionally high demand for dollars to settle international payments during the final months of year. Some, therefore, are speculating on dollars in anticipation of higher prices.

 

Commercial banks in Vietnam late last week, however, promised to supply sufficient dollars at prices under the ceiling level for the immediate future, saying that supply and demand is now in balance.

 

BIDV General Director Tran Anh Tuan said that in the immediate time, BIDV’s exchange rate will not be higher than VND16,950/USUS$1.

 

Viecombank’s General Director Nguyen Phuoc Thanh has also sent the same massage.

 

He believes that the rate will a bit higher than VND17,000/USUS$1 level by the end of the year, but the dollar price will not increase too sharply. The bank is selling US$70 million-US$80 million a day, and the demand is expected to increase in some days, but the bank will meet all demands of businesses. (VnExpress, Cafef.vn)