Global uncertainty sees dollar climb in Vietnam

The U.S. dollar has been gaining over the Vietnamese dong amid global economic uncertainty.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the U.S. dollar at VND23,201 on Thursday, up VND3 from Wednesday. With the currently ruled trading band of +/-3%, the ceiling applicable to commercial banks during Thursday is VND23,897 per U.S. dollar, and the floor rate is VND22,504.

At 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Vietcombank listed its buying rate at VND23,220 and selling rate at VND23,530. Both remained unchanged from Wednesday.

However, a U.S. dollar was sold at VND24,310 on Thursday morning on the unofficial market, up 0.25% from Wednesday.

Vietnam permits only banks to exchange foreign currencies though people often trade on the unofficial market.

To cool down pressure from the gaining greenback, the State Bank has recently injected U.S. dollars into the market and withdrawn the dong.

Rong Viet Securities estimates the central bank has sold $12-13 billion to the market since the beginning of this year, equal to 11% of its foreign exchange reserves late this January, for the purpose.

According to some analysts, despite global dollar appreciation pressure, the Vietnamese dong is likely fall only by 2.5-3% this year, thanks to abundant dollar supply and proactive action by the central bank.