State-owned commercial banks will be allowed to sell gold to the public

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), from June 3, will directly sell gold to State-owned commercial banks which will directly sell gold to the public, according to SBV Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dung.

The SBV will decide the prices of gold sold to the banks based on world prices, Mr. Dung told a press briefing on May 29, adding  that the State-owned commercial banks with their extensive networks have prepared necessary conditions to organize direct gold sales to people in need.

The move is aimed at stabilizing the gold market, following the instructions of the Government and the Prime Minister, he said.

From April 19, the SBV had organized nine auctions, supplying 48,500 taels of SJC gold to the market, equivalent to over 1.8 tons of gold, with the aim of stabilizing gold prices on the domestic market.

However, the gold price difference between Vietnam and the world remains high, at around 20%. This indicates that, in addition to market factors such as supply-demand relationship, there might be illegal activities like price manipulation and fixing, causing market instabilities.

The central bank then decided to halt the auctions before introducing the new policy which allows the State-owned commercial banks to sell gold to the public.