The central exchange rate announced by the State Bank today (July 18) is 24,251 VND, down 5 VND compared to the previous session.

Applying a 5% margin, commercial banks today are allowed to trade at a ceiling rate of VND25,464/USD and a floor rate of VND23,038/USD.

Meanwhile, the reference buying and selling exchange rate is still maintained by the State Bank of Vietnam at 23,400-25,450 VND/USD.

After many days of remaining stable, the USD/VND exchange rate at commercial banks today suddenly dropped sharply in the buying direction, with some banks dropping by nearly 100 VND.

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USD prices at commercial banks have dropped sharply. Photo: Nam Khanh

This afternoon, Vietcombank listed the USD cash buying price at 25,120 VND/USD, selling price at 25,450 VND/USD (buying - selling), down 98 VND in buying price and down 18 VND in selling price compared to the morning of July 17.

This afternoon, VietinBank bought and sold USD at 25,096-25,446 VND/USD, down 89 VND for buying and down 22 VND for selling compared to the morning of July 17.

At the private joint stock commercial bank block, Techcombank bought USD cash at 25,077 VND/USD, sold at 25,463 VND/USD, down 76 VND in buying price and down 5 VND in selling price compared to yesterday morning.

Sacombank listed the USD price at 25,118-25,463 VND/USD (buy - sell), down 72 VND for buying and down 5 VND for selling compared to yesterday morning.

The selling price of USD at commercial banks is 300 VND higher than the buying price.

Contrary to the developments on the banking channel, the USD price on the free market recovered after two sharp declines.

Foreign exchange points in the free market today traded USD at a common price of 25,535-25,615 VND/USD (buy - sell). Compared to the previous session, the free USD price increased by 25 VND for buying and 15 VND for selling.

Compared to the banking channel, the USD buying price in the free market is over 400 VND higher and the USD selling price is about 150 VND more expensive.

In the world market, the USD price today tends to recover after falling to a 4-month low yesterday. The US Dollar Index (measuring the greenback's fluctuations against 6 major currencies) has dropped to 103 points.

At 4:21 p.m. on July 18 (Vietnam time), the US Dollar Index was at 103.82 points, up 0.08% compared to the previous session.

The free USD price plummeted, 'evaporating' nearly 100 VND. The USD price on the free market today plummeted, dropping nearly 100 VND compared to the previous session. Meanwhile, the USD price on the official market was quite stable.