Pham Thanh Ha, deputy general director of Vietcombank, said they had sold US$2.1 billion so far this year and $3.14 billion last year to the SBV.— Photo .thesaigontimes

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Vietcombank had sold a huge volume of US dollars to the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) over the past 18 months, a bank official told VnEconomy online.

Pham Thanh Ha, deputy general director of Vietcombank, said they had sold US$2.1 billion so far this year and $3.14 billion last year to the SBV.

Ha said that since early this year, the local foreign currency market and exchange rates had remained stable thanks to measures applied by the central bank.

The SBV had resumed buying back a huge volume of US dollars from commercial banks after increasing the buying price from VND20,826 to VND21,100 per dollar following fluctuations on the local foreign currency market, he said.

The stable exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and the US dollar was thanks to monetary policies issued by the State Bank to boost the domestic economy.

This stability had also contributed to maintaining macro-economic growth and increased confidence in the dong.

The solid business environment had also encouraged enterprises to make expansion plans and attract more foreign capital to the nation, he said.

The stable exchange rate and the efficient management of foreign currencies and gold this year had reduced dollarisation in Viet Nam, he said.

As the year draws to a close, demand for foreign currencies would increase, and exchange rates between the dong and foreign currencies would also surge slightly, he said.

However, pressure on exchange rates would be not great because the trade deficit was low while foreign currency sources were stable, including foreign direct investment and remittances. — VNS