The Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) held a seminar to announce the third quarter macroeconomic report.
According to VEPR’s data, closing the third quarter of 2019, the foreign exchange reserves have exceeded 71 billion US dollars, and net buying value reached six billion US dollars from the end of the first quarter until now. As of September 30th, the central reference exchange rate has only increased by about 0.4 percent over the end of the second quarter of 2019.
The exchange rate increase has become less with 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, one percent in the first quarter of 2019, and only 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2019. At commercial joint stock banks, the exchange rate slightly fluctuated around 23,275 dong per US dollar.
However, VEPR noted that as Vietnam has become one of the seven biggest export partners to the US in the third quarter, the rising foreign exchange reserves of more than 71 billion US dollars has brought Vietnam closer to the US’s accusation of being a currency manipulator. VEPR thinks that the SBV should be cautious in operating the monetary policy more flexibly and objectively in the near future.
“The exchange rate should be kept stable at the current level. We should not devaluate the currency following the Chinese yuan to compete in trade, because it is very risky and can lead to negative reaction from the US government,” VPR noted.
