Vietnam public gold deposit estimated at 100 tons, gold accounts 5% national forex reserve

The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, estimated that people deposited over 2.4 million taels or roughly 100 tons of gold at banks, the local news paper Sai Gon Tiep Thi reported.

Besides, the central bank also estimated gold holding by the public at around 300-500 metric tons.

However, gold in circulation is limited as banks are not allowed to sell deposited gold in any circumstances.

Is there local gold shortage?

Local gold prices soared over 10% in the past two weeks, moving from a discount to premium position to global gold as traders claimed “gold shortage” after Vietnam exported roughly 40 tons of gold so far this year.

To stabilize the market, the State Bank of Vietnam allowed a quota of 5 tons of gold imports valid through August 31. As of August 11, only 1 tons of gold shipped to Vietnam, but this also help to narrow local-international gold price gap.

Tran Thanh Hai, CEO of VGB said the SBV should allow banks to sell gold and carry gold swap in the international market to link local and global gold prices meanwhile reserving international reserve.

Gold Accounts only 4-5% National Forex Reserve

Gold only accounts for 4-5% of the total national reserve compared with the average of 10.2% in the world, said a source from Forex Management Department of the SBV. Hence, the only tool that SBV could use to intervene local gold market is granting quota. -Source: Stoxplus.com

Tags: vietnam gold, Vietnam gold market, Vietnam gold reserve