Time to adjust Dong/Dollar exchange rate

It’s time to adjust dong/dollar exchange rate

Posted: 04 Jul 2012 05:06 AM PDT

LookAtVietnam – Some bankers have urged the State Bank of Vietnam to
regulate the dong/dollar exchange rate in a flexible way to ensure the
harmonization of different economic goals, instead of trying to stabilize the
exchange rate somehow.

The dong/dollar exchange rate has been fluctuating regularly since early June.
When the dollar price increased slightly in early June, this did not catch the
attention of the public, because the central bank committed at the beginning of
the year that the dong will not devaluate by more than 3 percent by the end of
the year.
Experts also said on local newspapers that they did not think the dollar price
increase would continue in the context of the profuse foreign currency reserves
and kieu hoi (overseas remittance).
However, the dollar price has increased continuously since then. The dollar
price once climbed to 21,000 dong per dollar. Meanwhile, worries have been
raised among businesses that the dollar supply would be short in the time to
come. The dollar demand is believed to increase towards the end of the year,
when businesses need dollars to make payment for imports. Besides, the dong has
become more attractive when the dong interest rates have been lowered by the
State Bank.
Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam has quoted a senior executive of HSBC as saying that
the exchange rate may not fluctuate too heavily in the third quarter of 2012,
but the dollar would surely be appreciating in the fourth quarter of the year.
Businesses have been told to keep cautious with the stabilization of the
dong/dollar exchange rate for a long time. In general, businesses do not use any
“defensive measures” which help them deal with the exchange rate fluctuations;
especially, they see the dollar price stable for a long time.
The businesses would only hurry to take actions when the dollar prices soar and
influence their business. This would cause uncertainties to the whole market.
Trinh Quang Anh, Director of the Economics Research Center of Maritime Bank said
on Dau tu that it’s now the time to adjust the dong/dollar exchange rate.
Anh said that the State Bank has been succeeding in its effort to stabilize the
exchange rate and the activities of the foreign currency market, improve the
foreign currency reserves and restore people’s confidence on the local currency.
However, this does not mean that the central bank would have to strive to the
same goal for ever.
He went on to say that the central bank should take actions right now in order
to avoid the overly hard pressure on the exchange rate which may occur by the
end of the year, when the dollar demand increases.
A banker who asked to be anonymous, also said it would be better if the central
bank begins devaluating the dong/dollar exchange rate slightly right now. The
exchange rate gradual adjustment would help make businesses get adapted to the
new circumstances and avoid the shocks to be caused in case the exchange rate
increases sharply at the end of the year.
The banker said that when the dong interest rates decrease, the adjustment of
the exchange rate would be necessary to harmonize the demands on the market.
If the central bank still holds out the nominal exchange rate for too long, thus
generating big gaps between the nominal exchange rate and actual exchange rate,
this would prompt people to speculate dollars, which would make the dollar fever
more serious by the end of the year.
Dau tu has quoted Truong Dinh Tuyen, a member of the advisory council for
national monetary policies, as saying that curbing the exchange rate fluctuation
within 3 percent this year proves to be a possible mission. However, the
government should think about whether to try to do that.
“When the dollar demand was low, we once asked to loosen the trading band.
However, the State Bank still tried to make the exchange rate stand still,” he
said.
According to Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam, Vietcombank and Eximbank quoted the
dollar prices at 20,850-20,910 dong per dollar on July 2.
C. V

Dollar hits new high in Vietnam | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Dollar hits new high in Vietnam | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update: "The dollar has gained around VND1,000 over the past week

The US dollar surged to a record high of VND22,200 on the unofficial market on Friday, one week after the central bank devalued the dong by 9.3 percent.

News website VnExpress reported that even though market activity remained almost the same without any significant changes in supply and demand, the greenback continued its climb against the local currency. The dollar has gained around VND1,000 over the past week.

The central bank’s devaluation last week aimed to narrow the gap between official and unofficial rates.

The official rates at commercial banks on Friday, however, were still far behind the black market rate of VND22,200. Vietcombank, for instance, quoted the dollar at VND20,885.

Le Duc Thuy, Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, was quoted in a Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper report as saying that the recent devaluation may be the only adjustment in 2011.

Thuy said he saw no reason for another devaluation of the dong through the end of the year.
Source: Thanh Nien

Vietnam to devalue Currency 4% by end of year

Vietnam will probably devalue its currency 4 percent by the end of the year, as the government prioritizes boosting exports to help growth ahead of fighting inflation, ANZ predicted.

The dong is currently trading at about 17,825 per dollar, down from 17,486 at the end of 2008, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. The exchange rate will probably drop to 18,500 by year-end, wrote Tamara Henderson, a strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., in a research note Tuesday.

“The government’s priority at the moment is to get growth back on track and deal with inflationary pressures if and when they emerge,” Singapore-based Henderson said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Vietnam is targeting economic growth of at least 5 percent this year, up from a 3.9 percent first-half expansion, and plans to revive exports after they declined 14 percent year-on-year through August.

The State Bank of Vietnam let the currency weaken 8.5 percent last year by widening the trading band, and lowering the reference rate.

Year-on-year inflation slowed to 2 percent through August, the lowest rate since 2002. A year-long deceleration in inflation is “almost certainly” over, with price pressures rising, ANZ said.

‘Long wait’

“Concerns about inflation have already started to weigh on the dong,” Henderson wrote in the note. Further weakening of the dong should support exports during the “long wait” for US and European consumer demand to pick up, she said.

“Devaluing the currency will also make imports more expensive, which can help address trade imbalances,” Henderson said by telephone. Any devaluation will probably take place toward the end of the year, she said. By the end of 2010, the currency is likely to trade at about 19,300 per dollar, according to ANZ.

Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of US$5.1 billion in the year through August, according to estimates from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. The shortfall has “deteriorated sharply” from a surplus in the first quarter, ANZ said.

Foreign investment, both through projects and through the country’s stock markets, is “lackluster,” Henderson wrote.

“Without an imminent improvement in global demand conditions, Vietnam’s external position will quickly deteriorate,” she wrote.

Dollar rises vs yen as China news lifts risk appetite

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar scaled four-month peaks against the yen on Wednesday, as news about China's latest stimulus package and data suggesting its economy is beginning to recover revived investors' risk appetite.

The news fueled a rally on Wall Street, lifting it from 12-year lows hit on Monday, and prompted selling in the greenback versus the euro and other higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

"The biggest news today came out of China and that seems to have a bigger impact on risk appetite than market activity," said Robert Blake, senior currency strategist, at State Street Global Markets in Boston.

"The news of the stimulus package is supporting riskier currencies and generating an unwind in the safe-havens that is now more or less limited to the dollar," he added.

China on Wednesday said it would increase infrastructure and manufacturing spending, raising hopes of stimulus for the global economy. In addition, an important measure of Chinese manufacturing improved in February for a third straight month.

The report on China overshadowed data showing another slide in U.S. private sector employment for February.

In early afternoon New York trading, the dollar rose to 99.29 yen, up 1.0 percent on the day. Earlier, it climbed to 99.49 yen, the highest level since November 5, according to electronic trading platform EBS.

The yen was also weighed down by concerns about Japan's economy, which is mired in recession. That along with zero interest yields have spurred an outflow of funds from Japanese investors themselves.

BOJ CONCERNS; UNCHANGED GLOBAL BACKDROP

Bank of Japan board member Miyako Suda echoed those worries on Wednesday, saying it was difficult to judge whether the Japanese economy had hit bottom and voiced concerns over tumbling share prices.

The euro was trading at $1.2616, up 0.4 percent on the day after earlier hitting a three-month trough below $1.25. Sterling rose 0.4 percent to $1.4117 after dipping below $1.40.

"Improved equity markets have helped sentiment today and people are taking some profits" after the dollar's recent rally brought it near or beyond important psychological levels against a number of major currencies, said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

The global backdrop, though, hasn't changed, and "financial markets are still a mess, credit markets are still tight, and we are still a long way from recovery," Watt said.

Anxiety about the U.S. and world economies has supported the dollar in recent months as investors cut exposure to stocks and other currencies and sought safety in the greenback, which benefits from its role as the world's reserve currency.

Also on Wednesday, data showed Australia's economy shrank in the fourth quarter for the first time in eight years, although hopes of increased Chinese spending helped the Australian dollar recover to US$0.6484, up 1.5 percent. Continued...

Vietnam Devalues Dong to Fight Slowdown, Help Exports

Vietnam’s central bank devalued the dong by 3 percent to help exporters after the Southeast Asian economy expanded at the slowest pace in nine years and the trade deficit widened.
The State Bank of Vietnam fixed the reference rate at 16,989 dong per dollar, versus 16,494 yesterday, according to its Web site. Policy makers maintained a currency band that allows the dong to rise or fall 3 percent a day, said Nguyen Quang Huy, director of the regulator’s foreign-exchange department.
Export growth slowed in the past three months as stagnating global economies cut demand for Vietnam’s garments and coffee and the country became less competitive after currencies in neighboring markets weakened more than the dong. Vietnam’s currency has dropped 5.5 percent this year against the dollar compared with an 18 percent slide in India’s rupee, 14 percent decline for Indonesia’s rupiah and a 13 percent slump in the Philippine peso.
“The devaluation is necessary as the government is trying to increase exports,” said Do Ngoc Quynh, chairman of the Vietnam Bond Forum in Hanoi and head of currency and debt trading at Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam, the nation’s second-biggest lender by assets. “Other currencies in the region have considerably declined against the dollar, but the dong hasn’t dropped that much.”
The dong traded at 17,300 to 17,450 a dollar as of 3 p.m. in Hanoi, according to Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, the nation’s biggest lender by assets.
Ensuring Stability
“The new reference rate will help increase exports, narrow the trade deficit, and also ensure the stability of balance of payments,” the central bank said on its Web site today.
At money changers, or the so-called black market, the currency traded between 17,270 and 17,350 to the dollar in Hanoi, according to a telephone directory information service, known as 1080, run by state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications. The dong has tumbled 35 percent since the end of 1994 as the central bank devalued the currency every year.
Vietnam’s VN Index of stocks fell 0.6 percent to 302.19, the lowest level in more than a week. The measure has declined 67 percent this year, the worst-performing benchmark index in Asia.
Gross domestic product grew 6.2 percent in 2008, after expanding by a record 8.5 percent last year, the government said in a statement yesterday.
Trade Deficit
Vietnam’s trade deficit widened to a record $17 billion in 2008, from $14.1 billion last year, according to preliminary figures provided by the government today.
The shortfall in the current account may grow to $12.1 billion in 2009, or 12.3 percent of GDP, from an estimated $10.5 billion this year, or 11.7 percent of GDP, according to a Credit Suisse Group research report dated Dec. 17.
“The Vietnamese dong is facing downward pressure due to the current-account deficit,” said Yuichi Izumi, an economist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The State Bank wants to guide the dong lower to support the export sector.”
Slower gains in consumer prices may have also provided more room for the central bank to weaken the dong. Inflation cooled for a fourth month in December to the slowest pace in nine months, with consumer prices rising 19.9 percent from a year earlier, the government said today. The rate touched 28.3 percent in August, the highest since at least 1992.
The devaluation followed five interest-rate cuts by the central bank this quarter to help bolster the economy. Policy makers last lowered the benchmark rate on Dec. 19 by the most ever this year to 8.5 percent, from 10 percent. The new cost of money became effective Dec. 22.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen in Hanoi at uyen1@bloomberg.net

Rupee shoots up by 60 paise vs US dollar

Mumbai, Dec 10, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- In tandem with the upswing in equity markets, the rupee, after Monday's brief pause, today shot up by 60 paise to end at a nearly 4-week high of 48.98/49.00 against the dollar on expectations of more capital inflows.
In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit opened sharply higher at 49.18/20 a dollar from the previous close of 49.58/59.
Initially, it touched the day's low of 49.35 on some dollar buying by oil refiners.
But a spurt in the Sensex after the government unveiled a multi-crore stimulus package for the economy and dollar selling by banks on expectations of a further fall in the greenback helped the rupee to rally smartly, a forex dealer said.
Some stability in most of the Asian stock markets after the announcement of the stimulus packages by many developed as well as developing countries might have brought some relief in the market.
As a result, the Sensex flared up by another 492 points, or 5.37 per cent, while Asian indices ended the day with a gain between 2.0 per cent and 5.6 per cent.
Foreign funds were also buyers in the past few days and looking at the stability in the share markets, they expected to invest more at the current lower levels in the coming days, which also boosted the rupee sentiment.
The rupee breached the 49 level and touched a high of 48.89 before concluding the day at 48.98/49.00, a rise of 1.21 per cent.
Meanwhile, the RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 49.12 and for the single European currency at Rs 63.52. The rupee premiums on the forward dollar improved further on sustained paying pressure from banks and corporates.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in May ended at 79-82 paise, higher from 71-74 paise on Monday and the far-forwards maturing in November also finished up at 111-114 paise from 100-103 paise, previously.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee recovered sharply against the pound sterling and the euro and remained firm against the Japanese yen.
The domestic currency surged against the pound sterling to end the day at Rs 72.44/46 from the previous close of Rs 73.92/94 and also recouped against the single European currency to Rs 63.34/36 per euro from the last close of Rs 63.84/86 per euro.
The rupee, however, improved further against the Japanese yen to Rs 52.78/80 per 100 yen from Monday's close of Rs 53.11/13 per 100 yen.

Greenback black market price rises by VND 50/US $1

The foreign currency market kicks off a new week with the greenback price on the black market increasing by VND 50/US $1 over late last week to VND 17,280/US $1. The gold market remains quiet, with the price going the cross-line.

Foreign currency exchange shops on Ha Trung street in Hanoi this morning quoted the dollar prices at VND 17,250/US $1 (purchase) and VND 17,280/US $1 (sale), an increase of VND 50/US $1 since the end of last week.

Today, the State Bank of Vietnam announced the inter-bank exchange rate at VND 16,490/US $1, while commercial banks quoted the prices at VND 16,983 (purchase) and VND 16,985/US $1 (sale).

In the last week, the VND/US$ exchange rate quoted by commercial banks were always at the ceiling allowed levels, hovering around VND 16,975-16,980/US $1.

The State Bank of Vietnam has affirmed that it is keeping a close watch over the market performance, while following a flexible forex management policy, which aims to control the trade deficit and stabilize the macro-economy.

As for the gold market, the prices have not increased or decreased, remaining quiet with low transaction volume. SJC gold is now selling at VND 16.55 million/tael (purchase) and VND 16.65 million/tael (sale). Meanwhile, Bao Tin Minh Chau gold prices are VND 16.52 million - 16.6 million/tael.

On ACB gold trading floor, SJC gold was traded at VND 16.1 million/tael. Only 48,260 taels of gold successfully changed hands this morning, worth VND 776 billion.

In the world, the gold price (with spot delivery) quoted on Kitco.com is $763.5/oz. The domestic gold price is approximately VND 400,000/tael higher than the world’s price.



(Source: Dan tri)

Vietnam dong drops in black market on fuel price rise

Heavy demand for dollars pushed the Vietnamese dong down by 4.5 percent in black market deals on Monday, as locals feared a fresh spurt in inflation after the government raised fuel prices by as much as a third.
Offshore forwards trading priced in a deeper fall in the dong in one-year's time compared with levels on Friday.
Selling dollars for dong is unlawful in Vietnam unless conducted by authorised dealers and banks. Many locals however approach gold shops and money changers to illicitly buy dollars.
"People want to safeguard their wealth against expected higher inflation," a black market dollar dealer said.
One dollar was changing hands for 17,500 dong on the black market, 4.5 percent weaker than 16,700 levels earlier in the day before fuel prices were raised.
"The dollar could go up to as much as 18,000 dong this week as people feel the heat from the higher fuel prices," a private currency dealer said.
In the official market, the dong was traded around 16,700 per dollar, within the 2 percent trading band prescribed by the central bank around a mid-point it sets daily. It set the mid point on Monday at 16,500 dong per dollar.
The official market and the black market had nearly converged last week, as the central bank's efforts to clamp down on the black market, intervention to defend the dong and restrictions on banks had led lifted sentiment. The dong had been transacted for as low as 19,000 in the black market in June.
But analysts expect Monday's increase in fuel prices to push Vietnam's annual inflation rate above 30 percent. It hit an annual rate of 26.8 percent in June as food prices soared and has been in double digits for eight consecutive months. Continued...

continued--->>>Vietnam dong drops in black market on fuel price rise Markets Reuters

Vietnam Dong Investors Use Black Market for Dollars

Vietnam's currency controls are forcing foreign investors into the black market to obtain dollars, aggravating declines in the world's worst-performing stock market and pushing benchmark bond yields above 20 percent.
Businesses that aren't controlled by the government pay about 7 percent more than the official rate when using the dong to buy dollars because the state gives its trading companies priority access to the U.S. currency, the World Bank said. The premium is reducing demand for the nation's stocks and bonds, according to PXP Vietnam Asset Management.
``There is clearly a shortage of dollars,'' said Kevin Snowball, a money manager at PXP Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, which oversees $117 million. ``If you have dollars and you want to buy dong, you will get the official rate, but if you have dong and you want to buy dollars it's a completely different story.''
Vietnam's financial markets are tumbling after the central bank raised interest rates three times this year to 14 percent to tame inflation that accelerated to a 16-year high of 26.8 percent in June. The economy expanded 6.5 percent in the first half, the slowest in at least seven years, while the trade deficit more than doubled to $14.8 billion.
Rally to Rout
Vietnam's benchmark stock index, which climbed 168 percent in the past two years as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung encouraged state companies to raise cash and finance expansion, slumped 53 percent since December. Yields on five-year government bonds jumped to 20.53 percent on June 13, the highest since at least July 2006, from 8.71 percent on Jan. 3.
The dong has dropped 5 percent this year, its biggest decline since 1998, to 16,846.5 per dollar as of 4:40 p.m. in Hanoi. Traders are pricing in an 18 percent drop in the coming year to 20,500, according to offshore 12-month non-deliverable forwards. The contract was at 16,080 on Dec. 31. Forwards are agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars.
The official rate will fall 6.4 percent to 18,000 by the end of the year, according to Calyon, the investment banking arm of Credit Agricole SA. HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by market value, predicts it will strengthen 4.4 percent to 16,140 by year-end.
`Currency Crisis'
Vietnam may suffer a ``currency crisis'' similar to the slump in the Thai baht that triggered the regional collapse in 1997, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report May 28.
``The central bank is not providing dollars, except to some importers and some working capital for exporters,'' said Noritaka Akamatsu, a Hanoi-based economist for the World Bank. ``That's why there is some depreciation pressure.''
The State Bank of Vietnam allows the currency to trade 2 percent either side of its daily reference rate. Gold shops and street money changers offer a black market rate of about 18,000, said Akamatsu. Banks offer a similar rate by adding fees to sell dollars, he said. The rate was as high as 19,500, he said.
The dong slumped in the forwards market in May as foreign investors trapped in the bond market bet against the currency to hedge against losses, Akamatsu said.

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Tougher rule for black greenback market

The government has taken a tough stance on dollar speculation and illegal trading to cool the escalating unofficial exchange rate on the black market.
Under a government directive late last week, the central bank ordered all authorised foreign currency trading agents to sell the whole amounts of greenbacks they have bought from the public to commercial banks.The new move is part of the central bank’s efforts to prevent illegal dollar transactions through trading agents’ prohibited reselling of purchased greenbacks. The transactions are a major reason behind the record high unofficial dong-to-dollar exchange rate of 18,200 on June 4 as people rushed to the black market for hoarding purposes. In the previous week, the unofficial exchange rate was pushed up to VND17,700 per dollar, caused by people’s dong depreciation fears.“The sky-high rate was caused purely by public speculation with agents creating ‘illegal’ liquidity to the black market,” said Hoang Dinh Thang, the State Bank’s chief inspector. The escalating unofficial exchange rate has prompted the central bank to broadcast an alert to the public about black market speculation, possibly fuelled by several financial institutions.Thang said the black market dollar fever would calm once the unofficial exchange rate was curbed.

After the central bank move, the black market’s exchange rate quickly fell to VND16,200-16,400 per dollar.

Thang said the State Bank’s Inspection Department would this week investigate foreign currency trading agents’ activities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. “We will also supervise agents’ daily trading activities to ensure all foreign currencies bought [by these agents] from the public are sold to commercial banks at the end of the day,” he added. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Ordinance, agents are only authorised to buy foreign currencies from the public and resell them to commercial banks. Reselling to other buyers is prohibited. Commercial banks are now only permitted to trade dollars 1 per cent either side of the State Bank’s daily official exchange rate. On June 6, the rate was set at VND16,124 per dollar on a continuous upward trend.
However, a Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) source said foreign banks’ greenback demand was considerable with some even accepting a higher rate to buy dollars from domestic commercial banks.
On June 3, 2008, some foreign bank branches offered a rate at VND17,700 per dollar to buy from local banks via the interbank market. Despite the dollar fever which has prompted a tightened control, a central bank source said the black market size was too small to affect the banking system. The source also said that Vietnam’s foreign currency reserves had not been affected despite the widening trade deficit which hit $14.4 billion over the first five months of 2008, almost equal to the level for the whole of 2007.

Oil fell $4 to 128 barrel

Oil fell $4 to $128 a barrel on Tuesday, pulled down by the stronger US dollar and concerns moves to cut Asian fuel subsidies could hurt demand growth.
US crude traded down $4.01 to $128.18 a barrel in late post-settlement trade, after settling down $3.34 at $128.85 in the first day of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange this week following the US Memorial Day holiday on Monday.
London Brent crude settled down $4.06 at $128.31 a barrel.
The losses came as the US dollar rose broadly after April US new-home data showed an unexpected rise, dragging oil off record highs over $135 a barrel struck last week.
Oil price have doubled in the past year as speculators pile into commodities as a hedge against inflation and the weaker dollar, extending a six-year rally as supply struggles to keep pace with rising demand in emerging economies like China.
Prices rose Monday when Royal Dutch Shell said it was forced to cut production in Nigeria after rebels from the southern Niger Delta blew up an oil pipeline.
Further weakness on Tuesday came from signs some Asian countries could ease subsidies that have kept down prices, raising concern demand in the region could falter.
Demand in top consumer the United States is already under pressure from high prices. "Crude is looking toppy due to very obvious demand destruction in the US and impending demand fall off in Asia," said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president at Macquarie Futures USA.
Over the past week Indonesia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have either raised regulated fuel prices or have pledged that they will, forced into unpopular action by the unsustainable cost of subsidies.
The weakness in demand has helped pull down near-term prices against crude futures five years out and beyond, where some analysts are concerned resource management in producer countries could keep supply under pressure.
Surging fuel costs have caused a wave of protests across the globe, with convoys of trucks converging on London on Tuesday. French fishermen have blocked road and rail access to the fuel depot of France's largest oil refinery at Gonfreville, owned by Total.
Rising prices have prompted some oil consuming nations to call on OPEC to ramp up production. Members of the cartel insist speculators, not a shortfall in supply, are driving prices and say they will not meet ahead of their scheduled meeting in September to discuss output policy

Dong 15,969 against US Dollar

Dong drops after gov’t says to control prices more

Vietnam’s dong fell after the government said it is determined to curb inflation. Bonds fell Thursday.
“The government will take every possible measure to stop consumer prices from rising and to stabilize the market,’’ Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said.
The dong lost 0.07 percent to 15,969.5 against the US dollar in Hanoi, the first drop in almost two weeks, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.
Government bonds dropped Thursday, with the yield on the benchmark five-year note rising 1 basis point to 8.59 percent, according to a daily fixing price from 10 banks compiled by Bloomberg.
A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Source: Bloomberg