Currently in debt of 10 taels of gold, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai (Ha Dong, Hanoi) has tried every way to buy gold bars, but so far has only been able to buy 3 taels. Ms. Mai said that 5 years ago, she borrowed gold from a friend to buy a house. The price of gold she sold at that time was 41.83 million VND/tael.

Ms. Mai also plans to pay off her gold debt early because the price of gold fluctuates continuously with an upward trend. From a level of just nearly 42 million VND, the price of SJC gold bars has increased sharply, reaching the levels of 50, 60, 70 and 90 million VND/tael. Seeing the price of gold increase, she is anxious that at this rate it will be difficult to pay off the debt.

At the beginning of this year, the price of gold continued to increase, Ms. Mai quickly bought 3 taels of gold when the price was 89 million VND/tael. Later, the price of gold rose to over 92 million VND/tael, she did not dare to buy more.

When she heard that state-owned commercial banks were selling gold directly to the public, Ms. Mai hoped to buy gold at a lower price to pay off her debt. However, not everyone was lucky enough to line up to buy gold. Ms. Mai went very early but missed her turn. When she registered to buy online, she waited for many days but was still unsuccessful, even though one day she mobilized her family to help her.

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In the first days of the bank's opening, people lined up to buy gold. Photo: Pham Hai

The current selling price of SJC gold is 79.8 million VND/tael. Compared to 5 years ago, she has to pay an additional 38 million VND/tael. But the important problem is not knowing where to buy SJC gold to pay off the debt.

“My friend lent me gold so now he only accepts gold, I have a headache not knowing where to buy SJC gold bars. Someone advised me to go to a gold shop and wait for someone to come and sell it, then make the transaction outside. This method can be done but I am afraid it does not guarantee the gold is real,” she said.

Mr. Nguyen Van An (Bac Ninh) said that he borrowed 5 taels of gold to start a restaurant business. During the difficult times, he did not have enough money to buy gold to pay off the debt. Now that he has enough money, he has waited and waited but still cannot buy it.

“Although the price of gold has doubled since the time I borrowed it, I cannot buy gold to pay off the debt. The old debt is still hanging there even though I have money in my account,” he worried.

In the context of difficulty in buying gold bars or gold rings to pay off debts, many people have to negotiate or find reasonable solutions.

Ms. Pham Thi Van (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) said that in order to pay off a debt of 10 taels of gold to a relative, she had to negotiate to add 5 million VND to each tael compared to the listed price at gold trading companies. Fortunately for Ms. Van, her family members also agreed to this plan.

“In reality, it is impossible to buy 10 taels of gold at this time, so I had to negotiate to pay cash instead of paying off the gold loan. Compared to the peak price of over 92 million VND/tael, I still feel that I have not lost out,” said Ms. Van.

Market research shows that although the price of SJC gold has been stable for a long time, people still find it difficult to buy gold bars, especially when buying several taels or more. At some gold trading points outside, people are exchanging and buying and selling themselves, but this poses many potential risks.

After four state-owned banks and SJC Company sold gold directly to the people, these units sold hundreds of thousands of taels of gold. However, the people's demand for gold is still very high.

Vice President of the Vietnam Gold Business Association Huynh Trung Khanh said that while the monopoly on SJC gold has not been removed and the import of gold bars has not been allowed, the State Bank needs to study allowing gold businesses to import raw gold to make gold jewelry.

According to him, this solution will partly solve the market supply and this is a better solution for the market in the long term.

At a recent press conference, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu admitted that selling gold through four banks is only a short-term solution. The State Bank of Vietnam and relevant ministries and agencies are studying and developing appropriate policies to manage the gold market.