Importers complain that banks are selling dollars virtually at black market rates.
The chief of an animal feed-processing firm told reporters he bought the greenback at VND 19,650 per dollar at a bank Wednesday while it was available at VND 19,660 on the street.
The bank demanded an “information service charge” on top of the official rate of around VND19,500, he said.
A gap has opened up between black market and bank rates in the last few days. The State Bank of Vietnam admitted that some commercial banks have been selling dollars at above the official rates, and blamed it on a shortage of the hard currency.
“It is unlikely that firms will find it easy to buy dollars from banks since Vietnam has not been able to balance demand for the currency and supply,” Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, observed.
“It needs another big inflow.”
Banks get foreign currencies primarily from businesses, the State Bank of Vietnam, remittances, and other sources.
The chief of an animal feed-processing firm told reporters he bought the greenback at VND 19,650 per dollar at a bank Wednesday while it was available at VND 19,660 on the street.
The bank demanded an “information service charge” on top of the official rate of around VND19,500, he said.
A gap has opened up between black market and bank rates in the last few days. The State Bank of Vietnam admitted that some commercial banks have been selling dollars at above the official rates, and blamed it on a shortage of the hard currency.
“It is unlikely that firms will find it easy to buy dollars from banks since Vietnam has not been able to balance demand for the currency and supply,” Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, observed.
“It needs another big inflow.”
Banks get foreign currencies primarily from businesses, the State Bank of Vietnam, remittances, and other sources.
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