USD/VND exchange rate continues upward trend

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Monday set the USD/VND exchange rate at VND24,005, up VND12 against Friday last week and rising VND399, or 1.69 percent, over the start of the year. On Monday, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) quoted the buying rate at VND23,855 and the selling rate at VND24,225 per dollar, both down VND35 versus Friday last week. The expert forecast that the central bank will likely keep current interest rates unchanged, as further rate cuts could affect the exchange rate adjustments. The central bank has supporting tools to help stabilize exchange rates, such as a high trade surplus, stable FDI attraction, and remittance reserves. Long noted that monetary policies should be reviewed if the USD/VND exchange rate rises over two percent.