Dollars becoming more available, but businesses still running short

VnnNews – Commercial banks have confirmed they can now purchase more dollars, however, supply is still not enough to meet demand.

The official dollar price had increased by 40 dong per dollar in the three months up to the end of September. The interbank exchange rate the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced for September 30 was 16,991 dong per dollar, while the rate was 16,953 per dollar for June 30.

 

This 40 dong was also the level of increase on the dollar price quoted by commercial banks. On September 30, most of banks quoted the exchange rate at 17,801 per dollar.

 

The higher dollar prices announced by the central bank and quoted by commercial banks have helped commercial banks successfully purchase dollars from export companies. Previously, export companies refused to sell dollars to banks because of the low prices. Meanwhile, commercial banks could not offer higher purchase prices, because they could not exceed the ceiling level.

 

“Higher dollar prices offered by commercial banks have prompted businesses  to sell dollars to banks instead of on the black market,” said Tran Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Foreign Trade Bank (Vietcombank) Hanoi.

 

However, the fact that businesses are now selling dollar to banks, not to traders, has caused a supply shortage on the market. Traders are now being forced to narrow the margin between the purchase and sale prices to 20-30 dong per dollar instead of 50 dong as seen several months ago.

 

The owner of a foreign currency exchange shop on Ha Trung street in Hanoi said that he now purchases dollars at 18,310 dong per dollar and sells at 18,330 dong, which means a modest profit of 2,000 dong per $100.

 

A bank said that the dollar volume it can purchase now has increased by 10-15 percent over the last month. However, it said that the slight supply increase still cannot meet all the demand for dollars which have been increasing sharply as enterprises need dollars to make payment for import deals at year end.

 

Do Dung, the owner of a home appliance import company, said that he has to contact three banks to be able to purchase enough dollars to make payments for imports. Meanwhile, a computer company has revealed that it has to pay an ‘additional fee’ of 470 dong per dollar to be able to purchase dollars from bank.

 

If counting on the additional fee, the dollar price offered by commercial bank turns out to be even more expensive than the black market price.

 

VietNamNet/VNE

 

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