U.S dollar drops at Vietnamese commercial banks

The buying-selling prices of the U.S. dollar at Vietnamese commercial banks plunged on Wednesday, even below VND24,000, as the central bank raised its credit expansion limit for the banking system from 14% to 15.5-16%.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, increased the central exchange rate by VND2 to VND23,660 on the day. The reference exchange rate at SBV center was set VND24,840 per U.S. dollar.

Commercial banks can set their exchange rates between VND24,842 and VND22,477 given the trading band of +-5%.

At state-controlled Vietcombank, a "Big 4" bank in the country, Wednesday’s buying and selling rates were VND23,710 and VND24,020 per U.S. dollar respectively, lower than the VND23,870 and VND24,180 recorded on Tuesday.

VietinBank, another “Big 4”, had corresponding figures of VND23,698 and VND23,998, down from VND23,815 and VND24,215, respectively

BIDV, also a “Big 4” bank, had buying and selling rates of VND23,720 and VND24,000, dropped from VND23,870 and VND24,150.

The figures at Techcombank, a private lender, were VND23,758 and VND24,070, down from VND23,858 and VND24,160 a day earlier, respectively.

The exchange rate on the free market also moved in tandem with the downtrend at commercial banks, falling by between VND20-70 to VND24,330-24,430, approaching the rates at banks.

On the global market, the U.S. dollar index inched up 0.07% to 105.64 points on Wednesday noon (Vietnam time).