Having raised US dollar prices to over VND23,400 on Tuesday, local banks continued chasing up the greenback by some VND40 today to a record high of some VND23,450, the local media reported.
Sacombank posted the dollar selling price at VND23,450, up some VND43 compared with the previous day. VietinBank raised the greenback selling price by VND15 to VND23,411.
Meanwhile, both Vietcombank and Eximbank quoted their greenback price at VND23,420, up VND30 and VND40 against Tuesday, respectively. Most banks posted the buying price at VND23,300 for cash transactions and account transfers.
Over the past five days, local banks have revised upward the dollar prices by some VND110, or 0.47 percent. Since the beginning of this year, the greenback has appreciated by VND165, equivalent to 0.7 percent.
For the unofficial market, dollar prices also soared consistently. Some gold shops in HCM City posted prices for the greenback at VND23,300 and VND23,400 for buying and selling, lower than those at banks by VND20-VND50.
Earlier, banks attributed the dollar appreciation to the rising demand for imported goods payments. Besides this, experts pointed to the central bank’s Circular 42, which narrows the list of borrowers eligible to take out US dollar loans.
According to a research team from Saigon Securities Inc., pressure on the dong-US dollar exchange rate rose after the first quarter of 2019 as the greenback has appreciated against other currencies.
In addition, the State Bank of Vietnam has acquired some $8 billion to supplement its foreign reserves since early this year, while foreign-currency supplies sourced from exports are lower than the demand for imported goods payments.
Meanwhile, after the United States announced it was raising taxes on Chinese importers, some local banks expected the greenback to become firmer against other strong currencies on the world market.
The central bank continued raising the central reference rate by VND6 to VND23,046 today. Its transaction office quoted the dollar selling price at VND23,687, still lower than the ceiling level of VND23,738.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online news site, Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCM City branch, stated that banks are still able to meet the foreign currency demands of citizens and enterprises, despite the greenback appreciation in recent days. In addition, dollar prices on the black market are still lower than those at banks.
https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/68201/greenback-surges-to-new-high.html
