US dollar surges to new peak after week of record highs

The U.S. dollar has climbed higher after a week of continuous hikes, further exceeding VND24,000 at Vietnamese commercial banks.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the central exchange rate at VND23,412 on Monday morning, up from VND23,400 last Friday.

As a result, commercial banks can set their exchange rate at up to VND24,114 per U.S. dollar

Vietcombank, a “Big 4” bank in Vietnam, has increased its selling and buying rates to VND24,040 and VND23,730, respectively, up by VND30 against last Friday.

Sacombank, a private lender, raised the selling and buying rates to VND24,060 and VND23,765, respectively.

The rates at commercial banks have edged closer to those on the free market at VND24,100-VND24,200.

On September 21, the Federal Reserve for the third time in a row raised the benchmark interest rate by 75 percentage points to tame inflation in the U.S. The State Bank of Vietnam has since continuously raised the central rate.

The Fed is expected to raise the rate to 4.4% by the end of this year and 4.6% in 2023, according to forecasts.