State Bank of Vietnam to Buy Dollars Twice Weekly From November 11

The State Bank of Vietnam will begin regular spot purchases of US dollars on November 11, 2026. Every Monday and Wednesday, it will buy dollars from banks with positive foreign currency positions at 25,500 Vietnamese dong per dollar. The purchases will supply dong to the banks selling dollars.

The State Bank of Vietnam previously conducted a 182-day dollar-dong swap on November 6, with a ceiling of $2 billion. It bought dollars at 24,399 dong per dollar and agreed to sell them back at maturity at 24,704 dong per dollar. According to interbank market sources, bids totaled about $2.4 billion, 20% above the ceiling. The $2 billion executed supplied about 48.8 trillion dong to the banking system for six months.

Rong Viet Securities says the regular spot purchases could support the dollar-dong exchange rate. The purchase price of 25,500 dong was 1,120 dong above the State Bank of Vietnam’s usual quoted buying rate on November 9 and just 47 dong below that day’s interbank closing rate. The firm estimates that, at the end of the third quarter of 2026, 11 listed banks had positive on-balance-sheet dollar positions totaling about 3,960.5 trillion dong, equivalent to about $1.55 billion at the stated purchase rate.

The firm also says spot purchases could increase foreign exchange reserves and provide dong liquidity that does not have to be repaid at maturity. It estimates that Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves stood at about $87.6 billion on June 18, 2026, equivalent to roughly 1.9 to 2 months of imports. Each $1 billion purchased would inject 25.5 trillion dong in base money. The firm says this could support the State Bank of Vietnam’s goal of lowering deposit and lending rates, though the actual effect will depend on the volume of dollars purchased.

Source: VietVance