Reduce pressure on gold bar sales points

On June 12, nearly 2 weeks after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) started selling SJC gold bars to the public through 4 State-owned commercial banks and the Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC), the number of people queuing up, braving the sun and rain from early morning to afternoon at the points of sale has been increasing. Many people from other provinces have also traveled to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to queue up to buy gold.

Line up from 4-5am

Ms. Nguyen Nhan, from Hai Duong, said she drove from her hometown to the bank at 5am, but when she arrived at the bank, there were so many people lining up that she didn't have time to buy gold.

At VietinBank's gold bar selling point on Hue Street, Hai Ba Trung District (Hanoi), from 10am, just 1 hour after the branch opened for trading (from 9am to 11:30am), all the registration numbers for gold purchases were given out. Before that, many people had waited in front of the branch from 4am to 5am, while the bank only gives out about 100 numbers per day.

Holding the queue number given by the bank on June 7, Ms. Thu Phuong, residing in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi, said: "Last week, the bank staff made an appointment for me to come buy gold this Tuesday (June 11), but when I arrived, they said it was not my turn yet, so I came back today to ask again."

According to many people who bought gold at this point of sale, to buy gold bars, they had to go back and forth at least 3 times, from receiving a queue number to paying and receiving gold. It was very difficult and inconvenient. Many customers received their queue numbers on June 5 but by June 12 still had not been able to buy gold.

Notably, when customers registered to "reserve a spot" last week, the bank staff informed that each person could buy a maximum of 10 taels/time, but this week it was only 1 tael/time.

At SJC’s points of sale in Ho Chi Minh City, the queues to buy SJC gold bars were equally long. Many people braved the sun to wait in line through the afternoon to get their turn to get a number and pay for their gold. The situation was so crowded that the authorities had to assist in coordinating and maintaining order.

Register to buy gold online

A notable development on June 12 was that Vietcombank began implementing the "online registration to buy SJC gold bars" utility right on the bank's website. Customers register to buy SJC gold bars at their desired location and receive an appointment confirmation with information on location, payment time and delivery of SJC gold bars.

Vietcombank has posted notices at all of its gold bar sales points with information that it will only sell gold bars to customers who have registered on the Vietcombank website. Thanks to this, Vietcombank branches and transaction points in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City no longer have the situation of jostling and queuing like in previous days.

"The bank only provides SJC gold bar sales service to customers who have registered to buy gold online on the website. After registering online, customers need to go to the transaction location according to the address and time frame confirmed in the appointment schedule. In case the customer does not come to the transaction more than 30 minutes after the appointment time, the bank will cancel the appointment to serve the next customer" - Vietcombank's announcement clearly stated.

By the end of the day, the director of a Vietcombank branch in Ho Chi Minh City said that on the afternoon of June 12, there were no longer long lines at the branch.

Vietcombank Ba Dinh branch, Hanoi, on the afternoon of June 12 was quite deserted after implementing the online gold purchase registration plan. Photo: BINH AN

However, reflecting to Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, some customers said they accessed Vietcombank's website to register to buy gold online, but all branches that were selling gold reported: "Vietcombank has received enough customers to register to buy SJC gold bars today".

According to some experts, this option may be a suitable solution at the present time, avoiding long waiting lines because only those who successfully register online will go to bank branches and transaction offices to buy SJC gold bars.

On the same day, Agribank opened 3 more SJC gold bar sales points in Ho Chi Minh City, bringing the total number of gold sales points in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to 9. It is expected that another gold sales point in Hanoi is also being deployed, if put into operation, it will bring the total number of gold sales points of this bank to 10 to meet customer demand.

Along with expanding SJC gold bar sales points, Agribank will continue to improve and optimize processes to meet customer needs.

Need to be more thorough

Commenting on current solutions to manage the gold market, Dr. Can Van Luc, member of the National Monetary and Financial Policy Advisory Council, said that the Government and the State Bank need to have more drastic and thorough solutions, because current solutions are still only temporary solutions.

"In the long term, it is necessary to increase the supply of gold reasonably for the market, allowing qualified businesses to import gold. According to the World Gold Council's calculations, Vietnam's gold demand is about 50 tons per year, meaning that if imported, it will cost about 3 billion USD - not too much" - Dr. Can Van Luc said.

Some other experts suggested that the State Bank should abolish the monopoly on gold import and export and the monopoly on gold production, and at the same time comprehensively amend Decree 24/2012/ND-CP on gold market management. According to Dr. Can Van Luc, the State Bank should only manage gold bars because they are related to foreign exchange, while the market should self-regulate gold jewelry.

The owner of a gold trading company in Hanoi said that the principle of buying and selling SJC gold bars of hundreds of taels or more is not to "hold" the gold overnight. That means the company must have an outlet to sell all the gold purchased during the day. If the goods are left in stock until the next day and the gold price drops sharply, the company will suffer losses.

According to this person, when buying gold from the State Bank, each gold selling point of the 4 state-owned commercial banks must calculate the amount of gold that customers order (1 person can buy 1 tael), matching the number of customers to "close the book" at 4:00 p.m. the same day.

Therefore, when registering to buy gold online or lining up to get a number, there will still be people who cannot buy. Because when that person registers or gets their turn to receive it, the daily supply of gold at the point of sale has run out. This explains why many people have to travel for many days to buy gold from banks.

Speaking to reporters of the Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, the District 3 Police (HCMC) confirmed that in recent days, at Vietcombank Ky Dong Branch; SJC Company's headquarters, when there were many people lining up to buy SJC gold bars, the ward police coordinated with gold selling points to stabilize the situation, maintain security and order, and avoid jostling and pushing. The coordination also helps people buying gold avoid pickpockets and losing property...

Previously, the State Bank sent a document to the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate in the management of the gold market in response to the spread of information about the State Bank lacking gold for sale. At the same time, it also dealt with the situation of people hiring people to queue up to buy gold with the aim of pushing up prices, taking advantage of the difference, causing market instability and causing damage to the economy.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/giam-ap-luc-cho-cac-diem-ban-vang-mieng-196240612203646266.htm