Dollar Rises Against Dong on Black Market
•February 13, 2026
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Why It Matters
A widening black‑market premium pressures import‑dependent Vietnamese firms and complicates monetary policy transmission, while global dollar weakness reshapes regional currency dynamics.
Key Takeaways
- •Dollar up 0.5% on Vietnam black market
- •Official VND rate unchanged at 26,160 per dollar
- •State Bank cut reference rate to 25,049 VND
- •Dollar set for weekly 0.8% loss globally
- •Yen poised for 3% weekly gain, strongest since 2024
Pulse Analysis
Vietnam operates a managed float where the State Bank publishes an official reference rate, but a parallel market often trades at a premium. On Friday the unofficial rate slipped to VND 26,547 per dollar, a 0.5 % rise from the previous session, while the official Vietcombank price held at VND 26,160. The State Bank’s modest 0.004 % cut to the reference rate, now VND 25,049, underscores the tight policy stance aimed at containing inflation without choking foreign‑exchange liquidity. Analysts view the narrow official‑market spread as a signal that the State Bank may intervene if the premium widens further.
The premium on the black‑market dollar directly affects import‑dependent firms, raising the cost of raw materials and eroding profit margins. Companies that rely on U.S. dollars for overseas purchases must either absorb higher expenses or pass them to consumers, feeding inflationary pressure. For the central bank, a widening gap between official and unofficial rates complicates monetary policy transmission, prompting tighter controls or occasional interventions to stabilize the market. Short‑term hedging tools, such as forward contracts, are seeing increased demand as firms seek to lock in rates.
Globally, the greenback is heading for a modest weekly decline, down about 0.8 % against a basket of currencies, as investors rotate into higher‑yielding assets and question U.S. growth prospects. Yet regional dynamics differ: the euro and pound remain near recent highs, while the Australian dollar edges up on a hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia, and the yen is set for a near‑3 % weekly rally—the strongest since late 2024. These divergent moves illustrate how local monetary stances and risk sentiment can offset broader dollar weakness, leaving emerging markets like Vietnam to navigate both external and domestic pressures.
Dollar rises against dong on black market
An employee counts U.S. banknotes among Vietnamese banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters
The U.S. dollar gained against the Vietnamese dong on the black market Friday morning as it headed for a weekly loss against major currencies.
The greenback went up by 0.5 % to around VND 26,547 at unofficial exchange points. Vietcombank kept its exchange rate steady at VND 26,160.
The State Bank of Vietnam reduced its reference rate by 0.004 % to VND 25,049.
Globally, the U.S. dollar was poised for a weekly loss on Friday, pressured by a confluence of factors including strength in other currencies, as well as some doubts about the robustness of the U.S. economy, Reuters reported.
Against a basket of currencies, the greenback was little changed at 96.93, but was set to fall close to 0.8 % for the week.
The euro was little changed at $1.1869, while sterling last bought $1.3618. The Australian dollar, which has surged in recent weeks on a hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia, was down 0.05 % at $0.7088, but set to rise 1 % for the week.
The yen was last steady at 152.86 per dollar, but was set to gain nearly 3 % for the week, which would mark its largest advance since November 2024.
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