After the đồng /dollar exchange rate rose by 50 đồng yesterday, many commercial banks this morning continued to make a sharp increase in the rate by 85 đồng to VNĐ22,600 per US dollar.

At 10.30am, the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) quoted the rate at VNĐ22,501/VNĐ22,610 for buying and selling, up 10 đồng and 110 đồng against yesterday. By that time, ACB’s rate was the highest level among all the commercial banks.

The selling rate at many other banks such as the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) and Techcombank was also revised upwards to VNĐ22,600.

Vietcombank meanwhile offered a lower selling rate of VNĐ22,585 per dollar.

Today, the State Bank of Việt Nam also increased its reference đồng /dollar exchange rate by 11 đồng against yesterday to VNĐ22,112 per dollar. Currently, commercial banks are allowed to trade the dollar at +/-3 per cent on either side of the reference rate, or between VNĐ21,423 and VNĐ22,749.

The US dollar has been strengthening against the dong, both on the official and unofficial markets, after the US presidential election result was announced on November 9.

Domestic commercial banks this week alone increased the dong/dollar rate by a total of some 180 đồng.

The State Bank of Việt Nam today said the forex rate rise was normal and in accordance with the upward rising trend of the reference rate it had earlier announced.

According to the central bank, in the local forex market, no sudden rise in dollar demand has been reported. Liquidity in the banking system also remains good, helping commercial banks meet the legal dollar demand of individuals and institutions in a timely manner.

The central bank also forecast favourable conditions for the dollar demand and supply until the year-end thanks to rising foreign direct investment disbursement and increasing overseas remittances.

However, the central bank affirmed that it would closely watch the domestic and global monetary markets as well as Việt Nam’s macro-economic movement to adopt effective measures for meeting the Government’s monetary and economic targets. - VNS