Central bank sells $1.1b to stabilise forex market
Central bank sells $1.1b to stabilise forex market
The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has sold roughly US$1.1 billion as of December 1 to stabilise Viet Nam's foreign exchange market.
Dau Tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper quoted officials of commercial banks as confirming this move.
Phan Thi Thanh Binh, ANZ Viet Nam acting chief executive officer, told the newspaper that the SBV has been selling dollar in previous days following an increase in the US dollar-Vietnamese dong exchange rate in previous weeks.
As of early this week, the foreign exchange market has stabilised because of the SBV move and low dollar demands at the start of the month, Binh said, adding that the exchange rate would further slide if the SBV continued its policy of selling the greenback in the coming days.
Binh also predicted the foreign exchange market to become less volatile from now till year-end because of the SBV move. She revealed that volatility would depend on supply and demand instead of psychological factors and cited the country's balance of payments surplus.
Commercial banks' foreign exchange rate has increased significantly in previous weeks and remained high at VND21,400 per dollar. But Binh explained that this was normal, as it reflected supply and demand as well as the market's expectations.
Yesterday, commercial banks' foreign exchange rate declined, especially for dollar purchases.
Vietcombank quoted the rate at VND21,330 to VND21,380, a 15-dong decrease against that of the previous day. ACB and Eximbank listed the rate at VND21,320 to VND21,390, a 30-dong decrease in purchase price.
Agribank listed the rate at VND21,325 to VND21,385, a 15-dong decrease in purchase price and 25-dong decrease in sales price, while Techcombank listed the rate at VND21,300 to VND21,390, a 40-dong decrease in purchase price and 10-dong decrease in sales price.
