Вьетнамский донг: история и современность

Currency of Vietnam

The dong (/d//ɒ//ŋ/; ; sign: ₫ or informally đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the predecessor states of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, having replaced the previously used French Indochinese piastre. Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hao (hào), which were further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which are now used due to inflation. The Vietnamese dong has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes, with lower denominations printed on paper and denominations over 10,000 dong, worth about 40¢ dollar or euro, printed on polymer. As of 2022, no coins are used. Generally, Vietnam is moving towards digital payments. The 500,000 dong note (VND) is the highest denomination banknote in circulation in Vietnam. The note is dark blue in color and has been in circulation since 2003. As of October 2023, the Vietnamese dong was the second lowest valued currency unit (behind the Iranian rial), with one United States dollar equaling 24,385 dong.

The piastre (known in Vietnam as "silver"), was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952.

In 1946, the Viet Minh government (later to become the government of North Vietnam) introduced its own currency, the dong, to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1959; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1,000:1.

Notes dually denominated in piastres and dong were issued in 1953 for the State of Vietnam, which evolved into South Vietnam in 1954. On 22 September 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to a "liberation dong" worth 500 old Southern dong.

After Vietnam was reunified, the dong was also unified on 3 May 1978. One new dong equalled one Northern dong or 0.8 Southern "liberation" dong. On 14 September 1985, the dong was revalued again, with one new dong worth 10 old dong. At that time, Vietnamese economists believed that revaluing the currency would increase its value, but it turned out to have the opposite effect: savings of many people were wiped out, the currency experienced unprecedentedly heavy inflation that peaked at 700% in September 1986 and prices skyrocketed. For example, in 1986, the price of agricultural products increased by 2000% compared to ten years before. Aiming to solve this problem, the government banned all forms of non state owned internal trade, which they believed to be capitalistic, resulting in an economic crisis so severe that Tố Hữu referred to it as a "vertical downturn". Despite the inflation rates having stabilised as part of the Đổi Mới reforms, especially during the 1990s and early 2000s, the effects of the crisis still last in the value of the dong, one of the lowest in the world today.

Commemorative coins in copper, brass, copper nickel, silver, and gold have been issued since 1986, but none of these have ever been used in circulation.

The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on December 17, 2003. Eventually, State Bank of Vietnam withdrew its distribution in April 2011. + 2003 Series 200 dong 20 mm 1.45 mm 3.2 g Nickel plated steel Plain Coat of arms Denomination 2003 December 17, 2003 April 2011 Very rare, partly withdrawn out of circulation 500 dong 22 mm 1.75 mm 4.5 g Nickel plated steel Segmented (3 groups) April 1, 2004 1,000 dong 19 mm 1.95 mm 3.8 g Brass plated steel Reeded Coat of arms Water Temple, Đô Temple 2003 December 17, 2003 April 2011 Very rare, partly withdrawn out of circulation 2,000 dong 23.5 mm 1.8 mm 5.1 g Brass plated steel Segmented (6 groups) Highland Stilt house in Tay Nguyen April 1, 2004 5,000 dong 25.5 mm 2.2 mm 7.7 g Brass (Cu92Al6Ni2) Micro scalloped Một Cột Pagoda (One Pillar Pagoda) December 17, 2003

In November 2009, the Vietnamese government decided to devalue the Vietnamese dong by 5% and at the same time raise interest rates to 8%. This was seen as a move that could destabilize the financial markets in Asia, as economies in the region were competing for an advantage over the European and American markets. February 11, 2010, The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) adjusted the interbank exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong (VND) and the US dollar (USD) to 18,544 VND/USD, a devaluation of 3.25% from the previous rate of 17,941 VND/USD. August 17, 2010, The SBV further devalued the VND by 2.04% to 18,932 VND/USD, an increase of 388 dong from the previous rate. On February 11, 2011, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced a decision to increase the interbank exchange rate between USD and VND from 18,932 VND to 20,693 VND (a 9.3% increase). Along with that, the SBV also narrowed the applicable range for the exchange rates of commercial banks from ±3% to ±1%. However, by February 19, 2011, the USD exchange rate on the black market was 22,300 VND.