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Bank Of Laos Issues New Regulation On Currency Exchange Rates
The Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) has issued a decision on foreign exchange rate setting to guide commercial banks in foreign currency trading in the country.
Commercial Banks now have more flexible margins for buying and selling foreign currencies, stabilizing the value of the Lao currency (LAK).
More specifically, commercial banks are allowed to set exchange rate prices for LAK/USD conversions based on a reference exchange rate provided by the BOL on a daily basis.
The daily buying and selling rates issued by the banks should not differ more than 4.5% compared to the reference amount provided by the BOL.
This decision by the BOL does not limit the exchange rates between the LAK and the EUR, THB, CNY, and other currencies, allowing for potential deviations from the BOl reference rate.
However, in all exchange rates, the gap between the buying and selling rates must not exceed 1%. Commercial banks have also been instructed to report the value of their foreign exchange transactions to the BOL on a daily basis, with separate reports for each currency, says Vietnamplus.
Recently, the BOL also decided to suspend loans to cryptocurrency-related businesses to reduce financial risk and maintain the financial stability of commercial banks.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/02/22/bank-of-laos-issues-new-regulation-on-currency-exchange-rates/