Mr. Huynh Trung Khanh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Gold Trading Association, said that because the gap between domestic and world gold prices is too high, SJC-gold buyers bear many risks, especially when domestic and international gold prices have not been connected yet.
SJC gold bars are exclusively produced by the State, and the Government assigned the State Bank of Vietnam to organize and manage gold bar production.
The global gold price dropped sharply, retreating to nearly US$1,700 an ounce, but SJC gold bar price slightly slid on July 15, widening the gap between domestic and international gold prices to more than VND20 million per tael (1.2 ounces).
Therefore, when the gap is too large, it will easily lead to the risk of gold smuggling, which affects the VND/USD exchange rate. Every time the international gold price falls, the domestic VND/USD exchange rate increases, especially the US dollar exchange rate on the free market, because it is collected heavily to buy gold. Currently, the US dollars on the free market are traded above VND24,000 per dollar - the highest level ever.
Economist, Assoc. Prof.-Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh said that Decree No.24/2012/ND-CP of the Government on the management of gold trading was issued for fighting dollarization and goldization of the economy, as well as stabilizing the gold price and developing the domestic gold market in the direction of connecting with the international one. Currently, the first two targets have been achieved. However, the SJC gold price is too high compared to the global one.
Therefore, according to Mr. Thinh, it is time for the authorities to consider amending Decree No.24/2022, aiming at eliminating the monopoly in SJC gold bar production because it has caused the SJC gold price to stand too high as currently. Meanwhile, the prices of other 9999-gold products are almost at the same level as the world gold price.
