Vietnam forex reserves rise by $3 bln
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The State Bank of Vietnam has bought another US$3 billion in the market, increasing its reserves to $16.5 billion, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has reported to the National Assembly's Economic Committee.
With banks buying huge volumes of foreign exchange, the rates have also eased, the report said.
Vietcombank bought the dollar at VND20,580 Wednesday, the lowest level since the central bank devalued the dong on February 11. The rate rose to VND20,630 Friday.
Earlier, between late April and May the SBV had bought around $1 billion worth forex from banks, newswire VnEcononomy quoted central bank governor Nguyen Van Giau as saying.
As of June 10, money supply (M2) only edged up by 2.33 percent from the end of 2010 compared to the full year’s target of 15-16 percent, while total outstanding loans in the system rose 7.05 percent, the report added.
Balance of payments was likely to see a surplus of $1 billion this year, Le Xuan Nghia, vice chair of the Vietnam National Financial Supervisory Commission, said.
In 2009 the forex reserves fell by $9 billion before falling by another $3 billion last year, mostly caused by huge illegal gold imports, he said.
The balance of payments surplus would help ease the pressure on the forex rate, he said, but warned the trade deficit was widening.
The trade deficit in the first half is expected to be $7.5 billion, or 18 percent of exports, higher than the government's 16 percent target.
Demand for dollars would surge during the peak season at the end of the year from companies seeking to repay loans, Nghia added.
