Vietnam strengthens local currency against the dollar

By Dat Nguyen June 8, 2021 | 01:37 am PT

An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) lowered its buying price for the U.S. dollar by 0.65 percent to VND22.975, the first such move in half a year.

It also brought down the selling price by 0.04 percent to VND23,774.

This is the first time that the central bank has made changes to the VND/USD exchange rate since November 23 last year. It is the strongest reduction in over a year.

The bank also lowered its reference price for the dollar by 0.04 percent to VND23,130. Banks can trade at three percent on either side of this rate.

In the last two days, state-owned lender Vietcombank’s dollar buying rate has fallen by 0.44 percent to VND22,830.

A strengthened Vietnamese dong will make imported goods cheaper and stimulate local consumer demand, but will soften the competitiveness of Vietnam’s exports.

The recent dip in the U.S. dollar globally came as U.S. Treasury yields were moribund and investors looked ahead to European and U.S. central bank meetings, Reuters reported.