Overnight dong loans were offered by the four state-run banks at 6.2-6.3 percent on Monday, slightly up from 6 percent a week ago , and rates on six-month loans edged up to 8.5-8.6 percent from 8.4-8.6 percent last Monday.
"The part-private banks are those who are short of dong funds," said a dealer with a foreign bank branch in Hanoi. He said state-run banks still had ample funds.
"Given the dong supply is plentiful, the central bank has been selling paper to reduce dong funds in banks," said the bank dealer.
The central bank said that, as of June 23, it had withdrawn 6.4 trillion dong ($401 million) of cash from banks via open market transactions, following the withdrawal of 11 trillion dong in the whole of last month.
The official exchange rate for the U.S. dollar rose to 15,954 dong on Monday from 15,934 a month ago but that was still lower than 15,962 on April 26.
The central bank has vowed to keep the exchange rate stable this year, similar to last year when the dong lost barely 1 percent of its value.
Source: Reuters, June 26, 2006