The State Bank of Vietnam bought roughly US$8 billion worth of dollars in the first 5 months to increase its foreign reserves.
The important sources of the greenback were foreign direct investment and remittances. According to the General Statistics Office, as of July 20 Vietnam had attracted US$8.7 billion this year in FDI via around 1,400 projects. Other sources included remittances by overseas Vietnamese, money spent by foreign tourists, and salaries of Vietnamese working for foreign companies.