The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) plans to scrutinise foreign currency and gold trading in order to keep the forex rate stable in the last months of the year.

The central bank said on October 28 it had tightened market management by restricting borrowing of foreign currencies, strictly controlling illegal forex trading and preventing gold smuggling.

It asked local branches and credit institutions to heighten forex and gold trading management.

Economists expected that foreign currency demand would not suddenly change and the forex rate would remain stable at 1 percent. Changes in the market were mainly due to psychology, they said.

The bank plans to analyse the macro-economy and international payment balance and take necessary measures to stabilise the market. If sudden changes occur in the forex market, it will assess and provide information and solutions.

The SBV will also be ready to support foreign exchange liquidity by creating policies on interest rate and short-term liquidity in VND to stabilise the market.

Le Quang Trung, the Vietnam International Bank's deputy general director, said there would not be much pressure on the forex rate in the year-end months as macro-economic factors have helped stabilise the monetary market.

He said the forex rate would be changed to the maximum level of one percentage point this quarter if monetary policies were adjusted, adding that the forex would exceed the amplitude of 21,300-21,500 VND per US dollar.

The central bank said flexible monetary policies have helped curb inflation despite a surge in forex reserves and a large supply of VND in the domestic market.-VNA