The National Assembly today (May 29) discussed socio-economic issues all day, in which the issue of managing and stabilizing gold prices received much attention from National Assembly Deputies.
Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) said that there are many shortcomings in the management of the gold market. In the audit report, it was assessed that gold fluctuates strongly, the price of gold in the country and the world is very different, leading to complicated gold smuggling, causing "bleeding" of foreign currency, potentially negatively affecting the stabilization of the macro economy. Therefore, the delegate said that there needs to be a long-term solution to manage and stabilize the gold market.
According to Mr. Hoa, the State Bank's gold auction is only a temporary solution, the gold price has not decreased but tends to increase, "so is it time to remove the monopoly on gold bars and gold imports of the State Bank?"
He also proposed amending and supplementing Decree 24 of the Government, allowing businesses to import raw gold and print gold bars under the strict management of the State Bank. With these solutions, delegates believe the gold market will stabilize.
According to Mr. Hoa, deposit interest rates also need to be more attractive, so that "people choose to deposit money in banks, instead of buying gold". He said: "Prices are high due to high demand, people withdraw money from banks to buy gold".
Delegate Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (Binh Dinh) commented that in the first months of the year, prices of some goods and services increased, especially gold prices, USD exchange rates, and aviation service prices, leading to negative impacts.
"Gold and USD have become the preferred reserve choices of many households and individuals. If we do not have a good solution and do not control it soon, it will lead to the phenomenon of gold-ization and USD-ization in buying and selling transactions in society," Ms. Thuy worries.
In addition, domestic air service prices are high and difficult to buy, making it difficult for domestic tourism to compete with foreign tours.
The female delegate suggested that the Government direct the sectors to research solutions to stabilize prices soon.
"Does not rule out speculation and price gouging"
Late this afternoon, explaining the opinions of delegates, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong said that the high and complicated fluctuations in gold prices are common developments in countries around the world, not just in Vietnam.
“Domestic gold prices are complicated, also moving in the same direction as world gold prices. However, domestic and international gold prices have expanded, especially SJC gold,” said Ms. Hong.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, in the above context, the Government and the Prime Minister are very concerned and have given many strong instructions to the State Bank and ministries to narrow the gap between domestic and international gold prices. "This is a very challenging task, because we are doing it in the context of international gold prices constantly fluctuating and being very complicated," the Governor shared.
Faced with this situation, the State Bank has taken measures to increase the supply of gold to the market. Specifically, recently the State Bank has conducted gold auctions (inheriting the 2013 method), with the expectation that increasing the supply of gold to the market will gradually reduce the price.
“However, after 9 auctions, we found that the price difference did not decrease as expected. Therefore, we stopped the auction and assessed the situation, found the cause and developed a new plan to start implementing next week, in order to reduce the gold price difference in the coming time,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong added.
Along with the above measures, according to the Governor, the authorities also implemented transparency in gold transactions in the market. The State Bank of Vietnam has decided to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect all aspects from invoices, documents, and transactions on anti-money laundering related to gold transactions.
“That shows that in recent times, fluctuations in the gold market have not excluded illegal acts of speculation, hoarding, and price hikes,” Governor Nguyen Thi Hong added.
Explaining later, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that the world market tends to increase and the domestic market also increases, however there is a big difference between domestic and world gold bars.
Since June 2022, the Government and the Prime Minister have closely directed the State Bank. To date, there have been 25 documents, including tools to intervene to stabilize the gold market and at the same time inspect, check and control.
The Deputy Prime Minister assessed that recently the State Bank of Vietnam has actively taken some solutions, but the effectiveness of its interventions has not been high. The State Bank of Vietnam is re-evaluating and will have a new plan for short-term market stabilization, and in the long term, Decree 24 will be amended.
"In the immediate future, we will use state management tools such as inspection and examination to assess the reality of the gold market and have solutions according to regulations to stabilize the market as National Assembly deputies wish, bringing it closer to the world market," the Deputy Prime Minister shared.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thong-doc-neu-ly-do-dung-dau-thau-vang-mieng-2285659.html
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