Reference exchange rate down VND 8 on May 16

The opening hour rates at commercial banks stayed stable.

The daily reference exchange rate adjusted down VND 8 on May 16 to VND 23,056 per USD

At 8:15 am, both Vietcombank and BIDV listed the buying rate at VND 23,250 per USD and the selling rate at VND 23,370 per USD, unchanged from May 15.

Techcombank also kept the rates unchanged at VND 23,230 per USD (buying) and VND 23,370 per USD (selling).

The daily reference exchange rate topped VND 23,000 per USD on April 23 and continued to set new highs since then. Analysts at the Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) attributed the strong rise in the reference exchange rate to escalating trade tension between the US and China.

According to the analysts, the trade tension brought impacts on the exchange rates of many currencies, including the Vietnam dong.

They said the State Bank of Vietnam has the option of selling US dollars to keep the exchange rate stable. In that case there is a big possibility that the central bank would also pump capital through the OMO channel and bonds to keep validity stable and prevent sudden surge in inter-bank interest rates, according to the BVSC analyst group.

Source: VNA