At the press conference to deploy the banking sector's tasks in 2024 held on the morning of January 3, a representative of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) shared about the management of the gold bar market.

According to Mr. Dao Minh Tu, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, amending Decree 24/2012 (Decree 24) at this time is really necessary.

“Decree 24 should have been amended sooner,” said Mr. Dao Minh Tu, emphasizing the important role of this Decree in combating “goldenization” in the economy, not allowing the gold market to affect macro issues such as interest rates, exchange rates, etc.

Regarding SJC’s monopoly on gold bars, the Deputy Governor said that Decree 24 stipulates that the state (represented by the State Bank) has a monopoly on gold trading. Jewelry gold, fine art gold, etc. are under the management of other ministries and branches in terms of the state, but they are free market activities.

In the coming time, when amending Decree 24, the State Bank will also re-evaluate the role of SJC in performing its duties.

“Many experts also say that there is no need to hand over to SJC, but whether SJC gold is still exclusive or other branded gold participates in the gold bar market, the ultimate goal must still be achieved, which is to manage the gold market so as not to affect the macro economy."

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Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu (middle) answers the press at the press conference.

The Deputy Governor affirmed that the management of the gold bullion market is for the benefit of 100 million Vietnamese people, not the benefit of gold trading enterprises. The State does not protect gold and silver trading, especially gold bullion. Or more precisely, the State does not protect the price of gold.

Instead, the State only has policies to support essential areas for people's lives, such as agriculture, farmers and rural areas... while gold bar trading is not an activity of the entire population.

The State will always respect the people's right to preserve, store, and trade gold bars. However, the State does not encourage trading in gold bars and protects the prices of gold bar trading organizations.

But on the contrary, the State also does not accept the difference in gold price with the world price of up to 20 million VND/tael as in the past, nor does it accept the price difference between SJC gold bars and other types of gold of up to several million VND/tael.

“Of course the world has increased a little bit, but if the world increases by 1 and the country increases by 3, that is unacceptable,” said the Deputy Governor.

According to Mr. Tu, all the remaining shortcomings will be thoroughly resolved in the process of amending Decree 24 in the coming time.

In response to the unusual developments in the price of SJC gold bars in recent days, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan - Director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department, State Bank of Vietnam - said that this is an opportunity for the management agency to re-evaluate the gold management policy, as well as evaluate and summarize the goals and policies of Decree 24 on the management of gold trading activities.

According to Mr. Tuan, the issuance of Decree 24 more than 10 years ago in the context of macroeconomic instability contributed to stabilizing the gold market.

Recently, gold prices have increased but the exchange rate has remained stable, which is the basis to prove that the goal of foreign exchange stability has been achieved.

Mr. Tuan said that in January 2024, the State Bank will have a summary report, orientation, and submit to the Government a policy to change Decree 24 on gold trading to suit the new situation.

“The recent sharp fluctuations in gold prices are due to the mechanism. We are amending the mechanism to confirm two issues: the State Bank will review the mechanism for managing gold bars; for gold that is not gold bars, the State Bank’s goal is not to manage these types of gold, the market will decide for itself,” said Mr. Tuan.

Early morning of January 3, the domestic price of SJC gold bars increased by VND500,000 to VND75.5 million/tael. The price of SJC 9999 gold increased by VND500,000/tael in both buying and selling compared to the close of yesterday's session.
In Hanoi, SJC gold price is 72.5 million VND/tael for buying and 75.52 million VND/tael for selling.