Vietnamese banks on Monday traded the dong against the U.S. dollar at the lowest rate in two years as the greenback strengthens globally amid economic uncertainty. The Vietnamese dong declined by 0.3 percent from last weekend to VND23,510 per U.S. dollar at state-owned Vietcombank.
It fell by 0.34 percent at BIDV and 0.26 percent at Vietinbank, also state-owned lenders. Among private lenders, the currency is 0.21 percent weaker at Sacombank, and 0.17 percent weaker at Eximbank. The changes came after the State Bank of Vietnam on Monday let the Vietnamese dong slide by 0.04 percent against the greenback to VND23,121, the lowest this year.
It has been pumping more U.S. dollar into the market to reduce pressure on the exchange rate.
RongViet Securities estimates that the central bank has sold over $10 billion to the market this year, or around 10 percent of Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves, to stabilize the market.
The U.S. Dollar Index has been hovering around a 20-year high mark since last month amid global economic uncertainty caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis and supply chain disruptions due to China’s “zero-Covid” policy.
Concerns of global inflation has urged investors to buy more U.S. dollars as a safe-haven currency.