|
| A staff of Sacombank counts U.S. dollar notes. Higher demand is believed to have caused the U.S. dollar to appreciate against Vietnam dong - Photo: Le Toan |
HCMC – The U.S. dollar has risen slightly against Vietnam dong on the unofficial market and at banks as well due probably to higher demands, while supply has remained strained, sources said.
The greenback rose by VND30 from the weekend to VND19,290-VND19,300 on the black market. Unlike previous occasions when the dollar appreciation was attributed to the local gold price staying higher than the global price, this reason did not stand this time as the local gold price was now substantially lower.
Therefore, the firmer dollar might have resulted from certain enterprises seeking to buy the foreign currency on the black market at a time when supply at banks is being restricted, said the head of the treasury department of a major commercial bank in the city.
He told the Daily, however, that the increase of less than VND100 per dollar was not a big problem.
The source also admitted that it was not easy for enterprises to buy dollars at quoted prices from banks at this time.
Many banks on Monday also raised their purchasing prices for the U.S. dollar.
Vietnam Export Import Commercial Bank raised their buying price to VND19,095, while Asia Commercial Bank and Vietcombank both increased their dollar buying price to VND19,098. Meanwhile, their selling price was quoted at the highest permissible level of VND19,100.
Many experts said that high outstanding loans in the U.S. dollar since early this year have weighed on the forex rate between Vietnam dong and the greenback now as borrowers now need dollars to repay their due debts.
A report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment shows the credit growth in the U.S. dollar in the January-July period was 34.4% while dollar mobilization declined 2.4% from late last year.
Therefore, banks will not have much room left to raise outstanding loans in the U.S. dollar in the rest of the year. As a result, importers in need of foreign funds will have to borrow loans in Vietnam dong and then use the capital to buy U.S. dollars to pay for their deals, which would also create pressure on the forex rate in the near future, experts said.
