Dollar-dong exchange rate reaches climax Friday

At Vietcombank, the price was listed at VND24,000 respectively, increasing VND50 compared to Thursday.

For its part, BIDV sold the U.S. dollar for VND24,010, an increase of VND35.

The selling prices were VND24,017 at VietinBank, VND24,010 at Eximbank; and VND24,033 at Sacombank.

This hike has been caused by the State Bank of Vietnam’s move to increase the price at which it is selling the U.S. dollar to commercial banks by VND225 to VND23,925 Friday morning, as well as unlisting its buying price to intervene and stabilize the exchange rate.

This is the third time in the past three months that the central bank has made such a move.

The State Bank has also listed its reference exchange rate at VND23,400, an increase of VND29 compared to Thursday.

The reference exchange rates are derived based on world currency rates against the U.S. dollar at the beginning of a business day. Compared to the beginning of the year, the rate has climbed by 1.1%.

The central bank allows the Vietnamese dong to trade within a band of 3% on either side of the reference rate, which is based on eight currencies and set daily. Thus, commercial banks can now trade one U.S. dollar for VND22,698 at a minimum, and VND24,102 at a maximum.

While on the official market, the dollar – dong exchange rate has been increasing continuously, while on the black market, it has remained stable, showing an almost horizontal progression.

Black-market currency shops are selling the U.S. dollar at 24,200.