be quoted in either ways: the price of the foreign currency in terms of the
domestic currency or the price of the domestic currency in terms of the
foreign currency. On January 02, 2003, for example, the nominal exchange
rate between the Vietnam dong and the U.S. dollar can be quoted either as
the price of a dollar in terms of dongs (1 dollar = 15,406 dongs) or the price
of a dong in terms of dollars (1 dong = 0.000065 dollars).
Suppose the above rate changes from 15,406 dong/ dollar to 16,000
dong/dollar. We say that the dong has depreciated against the dollar, or the
dollar has appreciated against the dong. You have to pay more dongs to get
the same one dollar. So, the value of the dong in the foreign exchange
market has fallen. If the dong strengthened to 15,000, we would say the
dong's value had risen in the foreign exchange market.
The nominal exchange rate allows us to compare domestic and foreign
money prices by expressing them in a common currency unit. However, it
may be misleading in several situations, as it does not take into account the
purchasing power of each currency. A foreign backpacker tourist thinking
of coming to Vietnam will not only care about how many dong she can get
for her dollar, but also how many dong it will take to buy particular goods.
It does her little good to get more dongs per dollar if the dong prices of
goods have increased in roughly the same proportion. The next article will
discuss the concept of tine real exchange rate: the nominal exchange rate
corrected for differences in inflation rates.
41. TỈ GIÁ HỐI ĐOÁI
Tỉ giá hối đoái là giá của một đồng tiền tính theo một đồng tiền khác. Tỉ
giá hàng ngày chúng ta vẫn xem trên báo là tỉ giá danh nghĩa và có thể
được thể hiện theo hai cách sau: giá của ngoại tệ tính theo nội tệ hoặc giá
của nội tệ tính theo ngoại tệ. Ví dụ, 'tỉ giá giữa đồng Việt Nam và đô-la Mỹ
ngày 2/1/2003 có thể được thể hiện như sau: giá của một đô-la tính bằng
